The Rain King

Some things become clear with the benefit of hindsight after a long period of time.  Some people that you cross paths with have a bigger affect on your life than you realize at the time.  A teacher I had in High School at Glenbrook North was one such person.

His name was Mr. Mularski.  He was my English Literature teacher senior year.  I had no idea at the time just how big an influence he would be on my life.

I was an awkward kid in high school and by the time my senior year had rolled around I had retreated away from the normal things kids were concerned about at that age, like where I was going to go to college.  Since our family was not on par with the typical North Shore wealth stream, I had just assumed there was no path to college.

The question of what I wanted to be when I grew up was asked often and dodged just as often.  I didn't know and felt like an oddball because of it.  I withdrew from my peers in secret shame.

One day in Mr. Mularski's class, he held up a book and introduced us to his dear friend "Henderson".  The novel was Henderson the Rain King by Saul Below and I'll never forget the first time I began reading it.

It was a typical evening in Northbrook during the school year.  After dinner, I had done my homework and got ready for bed.  I decided to start reading Henderson and immediately connected with the main character.  For the next few hours, I laughed so loud that my mom came into my room and asked if I was ok.

The book and the class had a profound affect on me.  It seemed this was going to be one of those defining moments that turns the tide.  For one thing, I somehow got the reputation of being a very serious, introverted book worm to my fellow students as I excelled in this class.

It was nearing the end of senior year and I remember I was sitting in the cafeteria eating lunch when Mr. Mularski came up to me and said that he had heard I wasn't planning on going to college.  He then validated my need to be accepted and acknowledged by pointing out that he only gave out two A's that semester and I received one of them.  He saw my potential and was afraid I would end up not exercising it.

Time passed.  Life happened.  I bumped into this and bumped into that until I found myself attending college, two years after high school.  The connection faded through the years until this morning.

This morning I was thinking back to my 20 year high school reunion that I brazenly attended.  At the time, I was unemployed, living with my mom back in Northbrook.  I was basically George Costanza.  

The day of the reunion, I went to the beach and got too much sun and  my face looked as red as a tomato.  I somehow overlooked this obvious attempt to mask my shame of under achievement.  With the false confidence of a former class president, I talked with fellow classmates at the reunion.

As the evening went on, and the beers went down, a wild coincidence happened.  I ran into Mr. Mularski there.  I was so excited that I had the opportunity to thank him for encouraging me to do something with my life and proud to tell him that I did indeed attend and graduate from college after all.

He must have been taken back by this red faced man of 38 talking to him so loudly and boldly about something that had happened over 20 years earlier.  However, he was gracious as ever and I thought that was the end of it, until now.

A few days ago, I once again began reading one of my favorite books of all time, Henderson the Rain King.  I suddenly realized that within 3 months of that encounter with Mr. Mularski at the reunion, I had decided to completely change the direction of my life and move to Colorado.

I never put any of it together, but Colorado was my Africa.  I went to find myself just like Henderson.  All of this symmetry seems perfectly clear now.  

The moral of the story is that a teacher, a book, or an encounter can influence and change the world for the better.  Thanks again Mr. Mularski for introducing me to Henderson and the lessons it would teach me long after our paths crossed.