Everyone Should Have a Mr. Gross

Mr. Gross- Librarian at  Desert Sands Jr. High 1980

Mr Gross, Heather, Rob and Carol at wedding reception - 1987

Were you lucky enough to have a special teacher, neighbor, grandparent, or trusted adult you could turn to when you were young? My person was Mr. Gross. He was the librarian at my jr. high school. I didn't go to the library to read books, although he had plenty of those. I went to talk with him. He was the encouraging adult who took my problems seriously and listened while I prattled on about nothing. I wasn't the only kid he made feel important. He had a passel of kids who surrounded his cluttered desk, ready to talk about whatever the hot topic of the day was. 

He was not only my person for the one school year I attended Desert Sands Jr. High, he stayed my person all through high school. I called him from the high school pay phones on my lunch hour and I occasionally skipped my lunch period altogether to walk the mile to the jr. high to visit for 20 minutes before I had to turn around and walk back to the high school. 

When you are lucky enough to find an adult who is willing to listen, counsel and be your cheerleader, it is hard to let them go. So I didn't. He was there on my wedding day, he sent me congratulation cards when I had my babies. He cried when I called him long-distance, homesick and hurting. I kept Mr. Gross in my circle of Important People. 

 He and his wife Carol are still there, even as many other people have come and gone over the years. I won't tell you his age, but I can tell you he was my current age when he met me as a miserable teenager looking for an adult who cared. 

He has long retired from his beloved library and is dealing with the physical frailties of life. It makes me sad to think that someday I won't be able to pick the phone and hear his cheerful voice or read an encouraging email from him. No one writes better emails than Mr. Gross. 

He is still my biggest fan and I still adore his every word.  I pray all of us will have a Mr. Gross in our life and more importantly, that we will find the kid who needs us to be their person. I am so, so blessed Mr. Gross was mine.