Simple Living with Wanda Urbanska

Wanda's Diary Entries

Sunday, March 5, 2006

“Nothing’s too small to make a difference.” The truth of this statement continues to be confirmed almost every day. Last Wednesday, David Beal called my attention to an article that appeared a day earlier in the Mount Airy News. It was written in conjuction with Black History Month. The feature article, written by another friend, Angela Schmoll, compared the experiences of two African-American females who transferred into two high schools in Surry County, North Carolina the year integration was implemented in 1965. The senior who attended North Surry High School had a negative experience and told the reporter that she was denied her diploma in 1966 after being blamed for the loss of a library book.

The other student, who entered Mount Airy High School that year, had a positive experience, largely due to the efforts of two caring teachers: a band teacher named Johnson and a civics teacher named Levering. Mrs. Levering, she told the Mount Airy News, had “sweet and gentle ways and kind words” (that) “have been with me throughout my life.”

Mrs. Levering, of course, is my late mother-in-law and Frank’s beloved mother who passed away in 1991. Her life bears witness to the immense difference one person can make. Even a few thoughtful words and kind gestures can leave an impression that will continue to stir and blossom in another’s life years later.