Helen Keller's Teacher by Margaret Davidson

Author:Margaret Davidson
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

" . . . Self-culture is a benefit, not only to the individual, but also to mankind. Every man who improves himself is aiding the progress of society, and everyone who stands still is holding it back." As she closed her address with a simple "Thank you for being with us today," the audience rose to applaud.

The rest of the day passed in a whirl of handshakes and fruit punch and compliments. By late afternoon it was all over and Annie was back in her room, her eyes soft with the freshness of her memories. She didn't want this day to end, but it was time to take off the finery and change back into everyday things.

Annie sat for a long time on the edge of her bed, gently stroking the pink sash around her waist. "I wonder if I'll ever wear it again?" she thought, as she carefully tied and folded it. "And these — I didn't get a spot on them." Annie pulled off the slippers and brushed them with a clean towel before putting them away in their box. Lovingly she fingered each pearl button on her dress as she slowly undid it. Then she sank back on the bed to admire the pretty embroidery on her petticoats.

"Mrs. Hopkins took such pains with all this," she thought. "How kind she is to me. Have I thanked her enough? So much time. . . so much money . . .

"Money!" Annie came bumping back to reality. She was a graduate of Perkins now. No longer a student.

No longer a child to be taken care of. Now she had to earn her own living.

Suddenly Annie felt cold. Quickly she slipped one of her heavy cotton dresses over her head. Not that it helped much. The cold came from the fear inside.

She'd have to think her situation through honestly.

The thoughts had been lurking around for months — she couldn't put them off any longer. So then, here she was: twenty years old, unskilled, none too well educated, and half blind. How was that for honesty? Annie nodded bleakly. It would do. Oh, she could see well enough to read a bit. Well enough to find her way around. She'd be the last to be ungrateful for the miracle of being able to see. But to most of the world she was still half blind.

Yet she had to have a job. She had to earn a living.

Or else . . . The one thought that she'd been trying to suppress came bursting through. "I won't go back there! I won't go back!" she cried.

Then the dinner bell rang. All the way down the hall the grim shadow of Tewksbury walked with her.

But as she went through the door to the dining hall she forced herself to smile. Her friends would expect her to be filled with happiness. It wouldn't be good manners to disappoint them.

Right after graduation Annie went back to the Cape with Mrs. Hopkins for another summer vacation. But her days were no longer carefree.

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