In Memory of T.V.S.

I just had a call from Moscow that a woman who was a major influence in my life passed away in France.

She was a director and a founder of the school I used to work in; an excellent teacher she became my mentor and,later, my friend.

She always pushed the boundaries; regular rules didn’t apply much to her. From the moment I met her during the job interview, she fascinated me. At that time she was 43 – the age when most women in my country used to look tired and genderless. She looked fit, stylish and full of life. Her spirit visibly bubbled with energy.

She touched so many lives around her by simply posing questions, prompting people to search for answers. She taught me how to think and how to teach; she taught me how to conquer my fears and how to laugh at myself. In sense she brought me to life as a person.

Her life was so full of adventures – a teacher, a linguist, a published poet, a founder of a school,creator of the travel agency, an editor of a newspaper. It is hard to imagine that all that stopped now. She would have been 64 next month.

Long ago when I was leaving Moscow she said “Thank you for everything. Be happy, my little one”.

That is what I want to say now, “Thank you for everything, T.”