AnotherSadStoy..
He was in the first  third grade class I taught at Saint Mary's School in Morris, Minnesota.  All 34 of my students were dear to me, but Mark Eklund was one in a  million. [He was] very neat in appearance but had that happy-to-be-alive  attitude that made even his occasional mischievousness delightful.
Mark  talked incessantly. I had to remind him again and again that talking  without permission was not acceptable. What impressed me so much,  though, was his sincere response every time I had to correct him for  misbehaving: "Thank you for correcting me, Sister!" I didn't know what  to make of it at first, but before long I became accustomed to hearing  it many times a day.
One morning my patience was growing thin  when Mark talked once too often, and then I made a novice teacher's  mistake. I looked at him and said, "If you say one more word, I am going  to tape your mouth shut!"
It wasn't ten seconds later when Chuck  blurted out, "Mark is talking again." I hadn't asked any of the  students to help me watch Mark, but since I had stated the punishment in  front of the class, I had to act on it.
I remember the scene as  if it had occurred this morning. I walked to my desk, very deliberately  opened my drawer and took out a roll of masking tape. Without saying a  word, I proceeded to Mark's desk, tore off two pieces of tape and made a  big X with them over his mouth. I then returned to the front of the  room. As I glanced at Mark to see how he was doing, he winked at me.  That did it! I started laughing. The class cheered as I walked back to  Mark's desk, removed the tape and shrugged my shoulders. His first words  were, "Thank you for correcting me, Sister."
At the end of the  year I was asked to teach junior high math. The years flew by, and  before I knew it Mark was in my classroom again. He was more handsome  than ever and just as polite. Since he had to listen carefully to my  instructions in the "new math," he did not talk as much in ninth grade  as he had in the third.
One Friday, things just didn't feel  right. We had worked hard on a new concept all week, and I sensed that  the students were frowning, frustrated with themselves - and edgy with  one another. I had to stop this crankiness before it got out of hand. So  I asked them to list the names of the other students in the room on two  sheets of paper, leaving a space between each name. Then I told them to  think of the nicest thing they could say about each of their classmates  and write it down. It took the remainder of the class period to finish  the assignment, and as the students left the room, each one handed me  the papers. Charlie smiled. Mark said, "Thank you for teaching me,  Sister. Have a good weekend."
That Saturday, I wrote down the  name of each student on a separate sheet of paper, and I listed what  everyone else had said about that individual. On Monday I gave each  student his or her list. Before long, the entire class was smiling.  "Really?" I heard whispered. "I never knew that meant anything to  anyone!" "I didn't know others liked me so much!" No one ever mentioned  those papers in class again. I never knew if they discussed them after  class or with their parents, but it didn't matter. The exercise had  accomplished its purpose. The students were happy with themselves and  one another again.
That group of students moved on. Several years  later, after I returned from vacation, my parents met me at the  airport. As we were driving home, Mother asked me the usual questions  about the trip - the weather, my experiences in general. There was a  light lull in the conversation. Mother gave Dad a sideways glance and  simply said, "Dad?" My father cleared his throat as he usually did  before something important. "The Eklunds called last night," he began.  "Really?" I said. "I haven't heard from them in years. I wonder how Mark  is."
Dad responded quietly. "Mark was killed in Vietnam," he  said. "The funeral is tomorrow, and his parents would like it if you  could attend." To this day I can still point to the exact spot on I-494  where Dad told me about Mark.
I had never seen a serviceman in a  military coffin before. Mark looked so handsome, so mature. All I could  think at that moment was, Mark, I would give all the masking tape in the  world if only you would talk to me. The church was packed with Mark's  friends. Chuck's sister sang "The Battle Hymn of the Republic." Why did  it have to rain on the day of the funeral? It was difficult enough at  the graveside. The pastor said the usual prayers, and the bugler played  taps. One by one those who loved Mark took a last walk by the coffin and  sprinkled it with holy water.
I was the last one to bless the  coffin. As I stood there, one of the soldiers who had acted as  pallbearer came up to me. "Were you Mark's math teacher?" he asked. I  nodded as I continued to stare at the coffin. "Mark talked about you a  lot," he said.
After the funeral, most of Mark's former  classmates headed to Chuck's farmhouse for lunch. Mark's mother and  father were there, obviously waiting for me. "We want to show you  something," his father said, taking a wallet out of his pocket. "They  found this on Mark when he was killed. We thought you might recognize  it."
Opening the billfold, he carefully removed two worn pieces  of notebook paper that had obviously been taped, folded and refolded  many times. I knew without looking that the papers were the ones on  which I had listed all the good things each of Mark's classmates had  said about him. "Thank you so much for doing that," Mark's mother said.  "As you can see, Mark treasured it."
Mark's classmates started to  gather around us. Charlie smiled rather sheepishly and said, "I still  have my list. It's in the top drawer of my desk at home." Chuck's wife  said, "Chuck asked me to put this in our wedding album." "I have mine  too," Marilyn said. "It's in my diary." Then Vicki, another classmate,  reached into her pocketbook, took out her wallet and showed her worn and  frazzled list to the group. "I carry this with me at all times," Vicki  said, without batting an eyelash. "I think we all saved our lists."
That's  when I finally sat down and cried. I cried for Mark and for all his  friends who would never see him again.