My Story: Comforted

 I have given my tribute to Mr. B; now, before leaving Mr. B and Mrs. A, it is time for me to give tribute to Mrs. A.

   Mr. B's gift was that passion that sparks, then inflames, the love of the music in the soul. Mrs. A's gift was the dignified, quiet, gracious strength of character which is rare in our day and age, and when it is found, is often mistaken for being anything but strength. Today I will share a short incident which may help the reader see why I hold Mrs. A in regard as an excellent role model for young women. 

   I was fifteen, and busy preparing for, I think it was my Grade 8 exam (maybe Grade 6, I'm not sure), and completely unprepared for a tragedy or crisis. But it did come. My best friend unexpectedly suffered a stroke, an unheard-of thing in my world, and wound up in our local children's hospital. 

   For about a week, I worried and prayed -- and cried. I had visited my friend in the hospital only the day after her stroke, and what I had seen was frightening. It was a good thing for me that I was practicing for hours every day, because it gave me something to do. But Mom noticed that, somehow, my music didn't sound quite the same. 

  At the end of the week, I went to music lessons, knowing Mom had told Mrs. A about how I hadn't really been into my music. Mrs. A knew of the situation quite well. With tears in her eyes, she told me at the start of the lesson, "Sarah, it's going to be all right. Your friend is getting better -- the doctors say she will recover."

   Mrs. A knew. Because my best friend was her oldest daughter. 

   Here she was, the one who needed comfort more than anyone else in the world. And instead, she comforted me. 

   My friend did recover fully, for which we all praised the Lord! And I will never, never forget the mother who gently comforted her student in the midst of her own worries and grief. In that one act, she set a towering example of faith, courage, and selflessness.