Appositives
Participles
Absolutes
Adjectives out of order
This was a letter I had to write in my English 101 class at
my old school. It’s directed to a teacher I had in high school, who is now my
mentor and good friend.
Dear Jillian Joy Debritz,
Since I have met you I have learned
just how deeply love can affect a person. When I first met you my sophomore
year I had no idea who you were, but kids around me all loved you and talked so
greatly about you that I figured you must be a pretty cool teacher. Boy, was I
naïve. I soon realized you were not like most teachers just trying to get
through the day and get their job done; you really cared about us as people.
From the classroom, to Malibu, to our Starbucks coffee talks, you have always
shown me your love and it has inspired me to show my love for others as deeply
as you continue to do for me.
Not only did being involved in the
ASB leadership class change me, but having you as a teacher is what really
changed me. Coming to class every day and seeing how much you truly cared about
us and about the school and everything going on in it inspired me each day to
want to make a difference, handing out my passion
to others as if it were candy. Even when you needed time to find your
joy again, others felt you were abandoning us, but I felt we owed that time to
you for all your work and love you had put into us to that point. ASB years
were some rough years, I know, but you
stood strong and showed people how much you cared about us and how much you
loved what you did, and in the end you made a bigger difference in just those
three years than any other person at that school.
School was where I met you, but
Malibu was where we connected. What I love most about our friendship is that it
is based around Jesus Christ and His love. I have no idea why I even decided to
go to Malibu, since I had never even heard of it or Younglife, until I met you.
But you were just so passionate about it, and would tell us to sign up every
day when we walked into class, and soon enough I realized it must be a pretty
legitimate thing if you loved it so much. Malibu came and went too fast, and
boy did it change my life. Seeing you love on all those kids around you and
just truly care about what they had to say and what was going on in their life,
made me want to have that kind of relationship with you. Soon enough it
happened and since then we have become closer and grown to love each other as
sisters. You, loving and passionate, have
influenced me in many ways.
Being able to create memories with
you during school and during my Younglife experience will always stay with me,
but what I love doing most with you is going to Starbucks and just sitting and
talking, reminiscing the pages of our books.
You are the best listener I have ever met and I truly appreciate that. You have
sat and listened to me talk about all my boy problems, friend problems, school
problems, and even the good parts of life, too! I have always felt most
comfortable talking to you because you have such a deep love for people I know
you would not judge me. Starbucks will always remind me of you and our loving
conversations.
From ASB leadership, to Younglife
and Malibu, to Starbucks, you have made a huge impact on my life with your love
for me. You, loving life and loving others as if they
would be gone tomorrow, are my role model. You are the strongest, most
caring and loving person I know. You have shown me how great it is to have a
relationship with Jesus, and now He is my best friend. I am beyond thankful
that you are a part of my life. You have changed me in more ways than you know,
and I thank you for that. I will forever remember the significance of this
photograph and how much that moment affected me. John 13:12-17.
Love,
Alyssa Jo
Moreno
