Dear Paul:

I am sorry that you are retiring. Please know that I always will have a special place in my heart for you– and you know why. When a person enters a profession such as teaching, it may never dawn on that person that he or she may make a difference in a students’ life. But, believe me–you have made a difference in our family’s life.

When one of our children needed encouragement-you were there. And I know, it was not an act or just part of the job. It was real. You took a child that would sit for hours on end in the basement of his home just watching television, and turned this child into a man that had enough confidence to enroll in Gateway Community College when he was 16, get on the Dean’s List at the same time  while attending High School, win the President’s Award for Academic Excellence and then when he turned 18, enter college in Montreal, Canada to live on his own.

I remember going to the Parent conferences in your office and seeing your eyes light up when he would enter the room. You doted on him like a proud peacock. Your face grinned from ear to ear. No-one could “pretend” like that. It was genuine.

Don’t think for two seconds this did not make a positive impact on this young man and his family–for it will be a lasting impression. Whenever I cross the Canadian border, I see  your smiling face, your guidance and trust and your perserverance.

They say one person can’t make a difference.  All I can say is that they never met Paul Calaluce and because of that, they are less of a person for it.

Good luck Mr. Calaluce and all the best–you deserve it.

Your friend:

Cindy