Dear Mr. Thompson,

I am Andy Theus. I do not know if you still remember me or any of my, at that time, friends. It has been several decades since then. I left not that great of an impression to begin with. 

You should be receiving a packet at the same time; some books you lent to me when I was more curious and didn't really know how to handle it. The books are still un-read. I am returning it because I don't think I will ever finish them. 

One of them is "Chemistry in a Bottle", you lent it to me in eigth grade when I had forgotten my book. That book has actually partially been read. On rereading it, I cannot remember a thing. I feel bad, leaving behind all that I learned, for no other reason than 'I forgot'. 

I forgot so many things. The other one, I still am not sure if it was meant to be a joke or not. Gifting me "Time, a month" during exam month sounds like a joke, but I have not read the book yet to find out. 

Gifting books in general is still something I didn't quite understand about you. At that time, I held nothing but contempt for books. They were there to instill knowledge that didn't matter to me, to fit some professor's ego about how they taught children, or dreamed up, and still on the exam. 

Then I talked with people who couldn't read, couldn't write. I met Richard, whom, to satisfy his curiousity, I read books aloud to. We talked about things, eventually became best friends, and I don't think I'd have met him, had we not talked about books. 

I still don't like books.

A few experiences later on in life made me re-think your lessons. For some reason I thought teachers to be superior to students. I wonder now if I could have a drink with you, had I asked at the graduation ceremony. 

The graduation ceremony. For us, it only happens once; for you, it happens every year. It was not something that special, once in a lifetime thing. I was misled by my limited perspective and my limited mind. That's why I have resorted to questions. Please bear with me, Mr. Thompson, you don't need to answer if you don't want to. 

How did you decide to become a teacher? Did you have a favourite student? What happened to your tie in 1999? One day you just stopped wearing them altogether, and I didn't see them on your funeral picture.

Rest in peace

Andy Theus.