Several years ago, my sister, Diane, introduced our family to the book The Lesson: A Fable for Our Time written by Carol Lynn Pearson. It is a 32 page story that quickly became a favorite and I still cannot get through it without crying. Without giving too much away I will just the book is basically about love.
When I was a senior in High School my best friend Shelly and I decided to give this book to our English teacher, Mr. Leal, as a parting/birthday gift. Our teacher was known for being a little gruff and sarcastic. We thought, or at least I thought, it would be a little comical giving our slightly ornery teacher a book about love. He ins't a really mean guy but he certainly isn't the friendliest person I've met. On our last day of class after 1st period, the rumors started flying that Mr. Leal had actually cried in class. This was absolutely unheard of! When I asked a friend what had caused him to cry he said, "he read some book to us and he started to cry while he read it." Lo and behold it was The Lesson that he read and had started the crying. He read it to our class as well but managed to hold back the tears the second go-around.
After that little story I just want to say that this is a wonderful little book that I hope to read often in my own family and I encourage anyone else to do the same.
4 comments:
I loved Mr. Leal! He made the most impact on me of any high school teacher I had. That is so funny that he cried... I would have made fun of him so bad if I knew that!! Funny story... I will have to read that book!
I can't wait pick this one up to read. Thanks for the suggestion.
Great book!! I'm glad I suggested it. And I love your title image. Where did you get that?
Okay, you talked me into it. Great story, too!
By the way, Carol Lynn Pearson was in our ward in Walnut Creek. She is a very interesting woman and if you don't know about her life, it's worth researching. There is also a book of poems that she wrote (I'm sure one of many, and I can't remember the one she wrote) that is amazing. She is a very wonderful, forthright, and brave person. Can you imagine giving a relief society lesson and having her be there to provide insights? Anyway, blah blah... just wanted to drop names :) (just kidding, I can almost guarantee that she doesn't know who I am.)
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