A Brand New
Pair of Shoes
The teacher was young and enthusiastic, in her first year of teaching.
The school she was assigned to was in one of the poorest towns in the province
of Havana. Water was scarce. Most of it came from wells located on one side of
town. She saw people around the school carrying buckets of water every day for
use in their houses. The children were always clean no matter how old, tattered
or patched their clothing was.
The teacher's favorite pupil was a
nine-year-old girl with brown hair and expressive eyes. She smiled all the time.
She was always tidy and her hair well-combed. Her dress was washed and ironed
but her shoes were almost gone. The teacher didn't believe much more could be
done for them. By the beginning of the second semester, the little girl's shoes
were nothing more than rags wrapped around her feet. That weekend the teacher
bought a brand-new pair of shoes for the little girl. They were made of genuine
leather and had a bow on top. They looked lovely on the girl's feet.
At the end of the school year, the
teacher was successful in her bid to transfer to the city of Havana to a school
where most children came from a better background. She taught there for over
thirty years until she retired and began devoting her time to reading and
writing.
One day she was taken to a small
private clinic with double pneumonia. She had been paying her membership quota
at the clinic for years but had never used it. She was surprised at the good
services and attention she received from the clinic's personnel. It seemed as if
the doctors and nurses were going out of their way to please her. One day, she
told another patient how satisfied she was with the care she was receiving at
the place.
"You can certainly say so," the other
lady said. "I will say, since you've been coming, the rest of us have been
treated more kindly, also."
"What are you trying to imply?" the
teacher asked. "I'm nobody important, and I don't know anyone here. Why would
they give me more attention?"
"Well, ask if you don't believe me."
That evening, when her favorite nurse
came to see her, the teacher asked, "Is it true that I have been given special
attention here?"
"Yes, it is," the nurse answered. "The
director, Dr. Mendez, asked us to take good care of you."
Mendez was a very common name, and the
teacher didn't remember anyone in particular with that name. Upon dismissal, she
decided to thank Dr. Mendez personally. She knocked at her door.
"Come in," a voice said.
Upon entering, the teacher saw an
attractive lady in her forties, who smiled at her.
"Dr. Mendez, I came to thank you for
ordering your staff to take care of me in such a wonderful way. How can I repay
you?"
"You repay me?" the director said.
"I'm the one trying to repay you."
"I don't understand. I don't remember
having met you before."
"Oh, but you have, my dear. You were
my inspiration, my role model. You were the motor which propelled me to strive
for a better future. You gave me the desire to improve myself and my lot. I owe
you everything I am and have achieved in life."
"But I don't see how..."
"You don't remember me, do you? I'm
that poor girl for whom, one day, you bought a brand-new pair of shoes, the most
precious leather shoes in the whole wide world."
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