It seems like I have known Marilyn all my life. We first met when I was seven years old and she was Ms. Allen. You see she was my second grade teacher and then lucky for me she became my third grade teacher also.

The moment I met her I knew she was special. I was sure I was ‘teacher’s pet’ until years later when visiting with former classmates I discovered they too thought they were ‘teacher’s pet’. She had that gift of making each one of her student’s feel special.

During the summer after passing second grade a very disturbing event took place. Ms. Allen became Mrs. Lindahl. By this time she was not only my favorite teacher but she was my girlfriend too! So this marriage thing became a difficult thing for me to accept.

I can still remember the ride over to the little town of Herman, Minnesota to attend the wedding. My Mother, my sister and I rode with the Seidl family the forty-two miles to the church. I remember Ms. Allen looking beautiful dressed all in white and the relief I felt as she gushed over me even on her wedding day. A peace descended upon me when I realized that the impending wedding ceremony wasn’t going to damage our special relationship…..teacher’s pet. 🙂

I saw her husband-to-be for the first time that afternoon and I was happy to see he appeared to be a gentleman worthy of entering into a life long partnership with my favorite teacher. And if I hadn’t felt that way there wasn’t going to be anything I could do about it anyway! 🙂

At that time in my educational career I had no idea that someday I would become a writer. But Ms. Allen, now Mrs. Lindahl, was responsible for getting my first manuscript edited that summer. You see I decided after the wedding I would write Mrs. Lindahl a newsy letter to catch her up on my exciting summer life on the farm.

So the letter is progressing very well until I got to the part about Fuzzy Face our new bottle lamb. Instead of just saying Fuzzy Face was a female lamb I got a little wordy and said something like, “My brothers and I decided to see if Fuzzy Face was a boy or a girl so we looked underneath her to check.” Of course that is exactly what farm boys would do but our Mother proof reading my letter gave me my first edit. She forced me to use the eraser and remove that sexist description.:(

I think my Mom should have let my description stay. Mrs. Lindahl would have got a chuckle out of it. We all did years later as that story was told and retold when we would have our get togethers.

Another quality of Mrs. Lindahl was her ability to get the best out of her students. In the third grade we put on the play “The Three Billy Goats Gruff” for our parents. I loved to entertain even at that young age however I was also shy about stepping forward. But with Mrs. Lindahl I felt at ease and was brave enough to share with her that I would like to play the part of the ugly troll that lived under the bridge and had desires to eat the three Billy Goats.

I was the tiniest child in the class and my ‘ugly troll’ potential was not great. But I pleaded and begged and finally my teacher relented and I got the part. I still remember the night before the big performance as my Mother sewed green cloth fringes onto a pair of faded jeans and I practiced growling and roaring. I’m sure I didn’t sleep very much that night awaiting the next day’s performance.

My first experience entertaining an audience took place all because Mrs. Lindahl believed in me even though it took considerable persuading on my part to give her the confidence to put me in what I thought was the starring role. 🙂

Near the end of my second grade Mrs. Daly the school nurse checked my eyes and to my dismay I flunked the eye exam. I needed glasses! I had plans to become a star athlete later in my high school career and glasses posed a problem. But Ms. Allen consoled me and said everything would work out. I believed her and she was right!

A rubber glass guard held my glasses in place and my athletic career was unaffected by my ‘four eyes’ condition. Ms. Allen’s gentle assurance was all I needed to put my fear of not participating as a Clinton Rocket to rest. My dream of becoming a star athlete, however, was never realized. 🙂

It was a sad day when I left the third grade and moved on to grade four because I knew my teacher for the previous two years was pretty special and would never be topped. That was reinforced by her written comments on my final report card the spring of my third grade year.

Mrs. Lindahl wrote, “Such a joy it has been to know Mike! His determination and excellent work have been a real pleasure to me.! Michael is one of my very good students and best friends.!”

I did not realize at the time how true the words “best friends” would play out for the rest of our lives.

We parted ways for almost twenty years as I finished high school, graduated from college and began my own teaching career.  Mrs. Lindahl and her husband raised two boys while Paul established an accounting service. After four years of teaching Marilyn quit to raise her two boys. Her teaching career was not over, however, as she spent thirty-five years teaching Sunday school.

We reunited in a very unexpected way as I was wandering around a grocery store in Ortonville when I hear this very familiar voice coming from the next aisle. If Mrs. Lindahl ever sang in a choir she would have definitely been an alto because she had the most beautiful deep and melodic voice. I knew immediately who was speaking.

I scurried around the end of the aisle and sure enough there stood my second and third grade teacher looking none the worse for wear. 🙂 We had a great visit.

From that meeting we stayed in touch even if it was only a Christmas card during the holiday season. I remember a time when Kathie and I visited Marilyn and Paul in their home one summer day. Marilyn and I gabbed nonstop while Paul and Kathie couldn’t get a word in edgewise.

As I began writing children’s books Marilyn has been one of my best “cheerleaders”. She was always so proud of my writing successes. I had a book signing for “Holiday Adventures for Kids” in downtown Ortonville and who was the first person to show up? (Actually she was the only one to show up but that is a topic for another blog.) Marilyn arrived with a smile and we sat and visited for forty five minutes and never ran out of things to say.:)

She informed me that she was planning on attending my last book signing for “The First Advent” and came a day late. She used her eighty-nine years of age as an excuse and I wasn’t going to disagree with her. So I sent her a free autographed copy of “The First Advent”.

Of course I received an immediate thank you note and here are the first few lines from her card, “Dear Mike, I have read your book and I love it. The characters are so adorable and selfless….a little like their author I would say! You were a creative little boy when I knew you best and you are still that way.”

Now can you see why we all loved Ms. Allen/Mrs. Lindahl?

Six months after I received that beautiful letter Marilyn fell on her patio and suffered a severe head injury. She passed away after remaining in a coma for two days.

She was a wonderful teacher, had a wonderful soul and was a faithful friend. Rest in peace, Marilyn. Until we meet again. 🙂

Until next time.