I never told my teacher she was the reason I stayed in school

Dear Delyara, When I was fifteen, I wanted to leave school. My father had died, money was bad, and I was convinced education was a luxury our family could not afford. One teacher, Mrs. Naidoo, kept me after class and said, “Give me one more term before you disappear.” She found a bursary, gave me old textbooks, and never made charity feel like shame. I stayed. I eventually became an engineer. Mrs. Naidoo died last week. I never thanked her properly. I thought about it many times. I searched for her once and found an old school email, then told myself I would write when I had time to make the message meaningful. Now meaningful is impossible. I attended her funeral and listened while people told stories exactly like mine. Apparently, she kept dozens of children in school. Her daughter said she often wondered what happened to former pupils. I wanted to shout, I was one. I am here because of her. Instead, I shook her daughter’s hand and said your mother taught me. Such a small sentence for a life that went in an entirely different direction because one woman asked me for one more term.