At midnight on 31st December I wonder, did many of you ‘sing in’ the New Year with that traditional favourite, “Auld (old) Lang Syne”? And what does it mean anyway? Well basically we are reminding ourselves of on-going friendships and raising a toast to one another in continuing care and kindness ‘for old time’s sake’.
Discussing New Year’s resolutions over a coffee, a local group of friends were saying how easily we make – and break – them! One elderly lady commented that hers had become a mantra – the same every year – simply ‘REMEMBER TO BE KIND’. “I believe that’s needed now more than ever”, she continued, recalling the sadness and heartache of so many folk in recent years.
Asked if she ever broke it she replied, “Yes, sadly I do sometimes but then I just add a couple more letters: ‘REMEMBER TO BE KINDER’.
She went on to say how she never forgot the kindness of one supportive teacher in her junior school, a teacher who, regardless of her pupil’s culture, background or academic ability, always brought out the best in each student.
And here’s another similar ‘BE KIND’ lesson from a different classroom.
A junior school teacher told the children in her class a lie. She said that she loved each one of them the same. But this was not true, because slumped in his seat in the front row was a boy named Dylan Jones whom she did not even like!
Miss Evans had noticed that Dylan did not play with the other children, that his clothes were a mess, and he needed a good wash. He paid little attention in class. She began to delight in marking him down.
But when she looked through his annual reports, Miss Evans was in for a surprise. Dylan’s first-year teacher had said, “A bright child, with a ready laugh, neat work and good manners – a joy to teach”.
His second-year teacher wrote, “Dylan is an excellent pupil popular with his peer group, but troubled because his mother is terminally ill”.
The next year’s comment was even more revealing: “His mother’s death has been hard on him. His father seems remote. His home life may adversely affect his school work”.
Then this comment in his latest report really made her stop and think: “Dylan is withdrawn and disinterested. He has no friends, and often falls asleep in class”.
Miss Evans felt thoroughly ashamed of herself, especially when the children brought her Christmas presents all beautifully wrapped – except for Dylan’s. His was clumsily tied up in brown paper. She took pains to open it the same as the rest, but some children sniggered at the gift of an old bracelet with a few stones missing, and a half-empty bottle of perfume. However, she put the bracelet on whilst dabbing a little of the perfume on her wrist. Dylan stayed behind after class just long enough to say, “Miss Evans today you smelled just like my Mum used to”.
At the end of the school day Miss Evans sat at her desk and wept. And so began her whole new revised way of teaching little children. As she started encouraging Dylan, his mind seemed to come alive. The more kindly she treated him, the faster he responded and became one of the best pupils in the class. One day she found a note from Dylan telling her she was the kindest teacher he’d ever had.
Time went by and the Miss Evans got another note telling her that he had finished secondary school, had passed all his A levels . . . and she was still the best ever teacher!
A few more years passed and she received a thank you card saying he had graduated from Medical School with honours; it was signed Dylan G Jones MD.
When he got married a short while later, Miss Evans was invited to the wedding and wore the bracelet with the missing rhinestones, and the perfume that Dylan remembered his mother wearing on their last Christmas together.
Dylan told her, “Thank you for believing in me. Thank you for your constant kindness and for showing me that even Dylan Jones could make a difference”.
Miss Evans tearfully replied, “Dylan, you have it all wrong. You were the one who taught me how to be kind, and how doing so made such a difference. I didn’t know the best way to teach until I met you”.
So a great 2022 resolution for all of us perhaps, if only to remind ourselves not just at New Year but every day, that it’s not just kind words but from our little acts of genuine kindness that the biggest blessings flow.
In 2022 it may not be a bad idea to reflect on the chorus of that well-known Robbie Burns’ poem:
For auld lang syne my dear,
For auld lang syne.
We’ll drink a cup o’ kindness yet
For the sake of auld lang syne.
A happy and healthy New Year to you all – Blwyddyn Newydd Dda i chi gyd!
