This morning I got news that a personal hero had passed away. Gordon Ramsey was a wonderful person, and inspiration in my life. A person who made a true difference in my life. A person who taught me that a head full of useless trivia could be a good thing. A person who taught me that history is exciting. When did I ever meet a famous British chef you ask. No, not that Gordon Ramsay. I am referring to my 7th grade history teacher. Same name. Different spelling and completely different vocabulary. By the way the other guy is fine as far as I know and still dropping enough f bombs to obliterate a small country. The Gordon Ramsay that I know may not have any Michelin stars but had a brilliant mind, compassion, and the best sense of humor of anyone I have met before or since.
In 7th grade Tennessee history was a mandatory class. How exciting. (There really should be a punctuation to denote intense sarcasm!) I not only learned to love the history of my home state but found one of the most funny and charming teachers while learning. Mr. Ramsey was one of the very rare teachers that could make every student feel like they are the teachers pet. He could make even the most uninterested student interested in his class.
Regarding the useless trivia comment earlier, Mr. Ramsey was constantly throwing out bits of trivia, some pertaining to our subject of the day and some not. Either way we learned both Tennesse history and many other pieces of information that would be useful if we ever ended up on Jeopardy. Usually the bits of trivia came in handy for extra credit on test. If you are ever asked, Sir Isaac Newton's dog was named Diamond; Also, Sonny Crockett had a pet alligator named Elvis.
One other thing that I learned in Mr. Ramsey's class, was that I have a photographic memory. (However, the photographs are very blurry the more I age!) I learned this because one of Mr. Ramsey's favorite things to do was put our test on the overhead projector the day before, to use as a study guide. I learned that if I closed my eyes, I could clearly see the study guide, and therefore answer the questions perfectly every time. Including the extra credit, most tests ended up with grade of about 105.
Okay, I am starting to ramble, but I have to add one more memory. One of my favorites if for no other reason than the fact that it reminds me how innocent and naive I was at that time in my life. Near the end of the school year my Aunt came for a visit from California. She brought her boyfriend who, was a rich spoiled jerk. I liked Mr. Ramsey so much that I thought I would try to get rid of the rich jerk, and move in someone I liked. Unfortunately, the rich jerk had a Ferarri, and a Pantera. Apparently, that was the lifestyle my Aunt preferred. It was worth a try. R.I.P. Mr. Ramsey. You were a wonderful teacher, and I hope you knew that you made a big difference in the lives of all the students who were ever in your classroom. I always hoped that I would run into you later in life, so that you could see the love of learning I passed on to my kids and so that I could say "Thank you".
I would also like to take a moment to say I actually do like Gordon Ramsay the chef as well. My brain just has to filter out so much of what he says, that I only hear about 5 or 6 words per show.
Nice!
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