Everyone has that one teacher (maybe more) that they remember with fondness and love...if you don't, I'm sorry. I wasn't always planning on becoming a teacher but when I made the decision (finally!) I immediately thought of my special teacher. Mrs. Bienia was my 5th grade teacher at Holy Family Catholic School in Honolulu, HI. She was an older lady...I know...all grownups seem "old" to a 10 year old but follow me here...and she did remind me of a grandmother (I didn't know it at the time but she was 1 year older than my grandma!). I loved her and she was so kind and soft spoken. When I was having trouble in math (NEVER been my favorite subject), she made sure she spoke to my parents about it and gave me what I needed to do better.
Mrs Bienia LOVED turtles! She collected them like nobody's business (not real ones though). I remember she had at least two skirts that she wore that had turtles all over them. I even organized my classmates and collected money from them to buuy her a turtle planter with a plant in it.
I felt close to her because she and I had birthdays only 3 days apart and that is one of the things that helped us keep in touch through the years. I saw her for the two more years I attended Holy Family. When I was in 7th grade and my sister Mallory was born, Mrs. Bienia was the one I wanted to show my baby sister off to. On my last day of school in 7th grade, I knew I we would be moving so I found Mrs. Bienia and had my mom take a picture of us together.
Mrs. Bienia stayed in touch through the years either by phone call or by mail, especially Christmas cards and birthday cards to each other. On my birthdays she would often send me two boxes of chocolate covered macadamia nuts...YUM! When I sent her a wedding invitation she sent me two pot holders with a conch shell on one and a sea turtle on the other...what else??? When I called her to tell her that I was expecting my first baby, she sent him a blue teddy bear made of fabric with the Hawaiian flag on it. Whenever I talked to her on the phone I would say my name and she instantly knew who I was and remembered the year I was in her class 5-A class '82-'83. She and I signed our cards the same way as well.
A couple of years ago I stopped getting Christmas cards from her and so I tried to call and her phone had been disconnected. Being the former private investigator that I am I tracked down the name of her apartment building using her address and got the number for the office. The person was kidn enough to tell me that she had moved to Kauai to live with her son and daughter in law but couldn't give me any other info. I have tried like crazy to track down her son but no luck. I feel bad that I don't know if she is okay and I would love to be able to speak with her or at least her son to find out. Until then though, I always think of her, especially on her birthday, today, February 3rd.
Happy 90th Birthday Mrs. Bienia!
Love,
Staci
5-A class '82-'83
Wayne at http://pudmud.blogspot.com/ has started something on his blog called Tribute Tuesday. Just a way for people to share their stories about people they admire. Check it out. This post is my tribute to a special lady...Mrs. Bienia.
3 comments:
Mrs. Bienia sounds like a wonderful lady and teacher. This is a fitting tribute to a really great woman. I hope you find your friend soon and I'm sure she will love this tribute.
Thankyou for taking part in tribute tuesday.
Wonderful tribute, she wounds like a great lady.
That is such an amazing story. It's absolutely amazing how teachers touch out heart. Hopefully when I become a teacher I will make a good impression on even one student.
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