One In Particular

I have had several teachers who made a difference in my life, but there was one in particular who I would like to mention.  I was nine years old and in my last year of lower school(4th grade).  I had just transferred to my new beloved school, after two years in a school of cattle classes and swearing to a flag I did not care about.  At this new school, the classes were much smaller, and the one on one time with teachers was both intimidating to me, but also helpful because I was an extremely shy child.  My favorite class that year was art.  My art teacher was a woman from France named Mimi.  That was her real name. :)  She was tall and thin, always seemed to be lightly tanned(this was before artificial tanning), had piercing blue eyes, and big frizzy blond hair.  She had a very thick French accent, so most of the class (about ten of us) would only understand about half of what she had to say, lol.  She would let us play records in class, and gave us complex assignments, which I loved, and real crits, which I needed.  While she gave constructive criticism, she would also always insist that "there are no mistakes in art".  She wanted us to work freely, free of any initial assumptions or judgment, so we would be able to truly enjoy and improve our work.  She encouraged me to enter one of my paintings in a show there at the school.  I didn't place, but I was so thrilled just to receive an honorable mention.  I often wonder if she is still alive and what she might be doing now.  I wish I could tell her how important she was to my life.