That year, I was a Junior 2 student. Falling off the stairs hurt me in the head. Almost everyone thought I was dead. But they were wrong. However, it was difficult to get back to normal life. I had to leave school and learn everything, walking, talking, and yes, maths.
To help me with that task, Mrs. Pillar volunteered to come to the hospital and later to my house once a week. We began with basic maths skills. As time passed by, I made progress.
I remember very vividly how she came to my home on Sundays, sat with me at the kitchen table and threw different coins on the table. She asked me to show her 38 cents, 17 cents, 63 cents. It was challenging, but she also made it fun.
After a year and a half, I had progressed a lot, both in body and mind, to return to school. Seven years later, I graduated from the University of Texas at the top of my class.
As years went by, I always kept in touch with Mrs. Pillar. Unluckily, one day my parents told me that Mrs. Pillar had been in hospital because she suffered a stroke (中风).
Now it was my turn to help her. Mrs. Pillar lay in bed, unable to speak or know anybody around. I pulled some coins out of my pocket, dropped them on her bed, and asked her to show me 12 cents. The nurse thought that my action was very strange until one day Mrs. Pillar smiled happily as I began working with—just as she had worked with me years before. She made progress every day and was moved out of ICU (重症监护室) and finally out of hospital.
One day, I called to wish her a happy New Year. She spoke into the phone excitedly, "Happy New Year to you and your family, Michael. Thank you for everything you've done for me."
Mrs. Pillar was one of my Junior 2 teachers, but she taught me so much more about life than only maths.
