It's National Teacher Appreciation Week .

Since education is at the heart of this blog, I thought I'd share a few memories about teachers who made an impact on me. Will you share yours, too?

My first teacher—technically—was my mom. When I was three, she brought home discontinued "Dick and Jane"  readers from a school library and taught me to read. Mostly I think it was to keep me out of her hair, but it worked: I've been a voracious reader ever since.

For kindergarten at Mark Twain elementary, my teacher was Mrs. Bulman. What I remember most about her was that she loved, loved, loved the color purple. So much so that we made purple jack-o'-lanterns, purple Christmas trees, and even purple polar bears for our Alaska program. Mrs. Bulman taught me to be passionate and to do things my own way.

"Doc" Walker was in my life from fourth through ninth grades and taught me to play the violin. To be sure, I was never going sit first chair in any metropolitan orchestra, but Doc Walker encouraged me nonetheless. From him, I learned tenacity and a love of music—especially The Beatles .

From my high school French teachers, I learned how to conjugate verbs and carry on a semi-respectable conversation en français. The former gave me a greater understanding of the English language, which I went on to study in college. And the latter gave me the courage to seek assistance from les gendarmes (the police) when, in my early twenties, I was desperately lost on the streets of Paris. Merci beaucoup, Madame Timm et Monsieur Richards!

In college, my favorite professor was Dr. Looney. With her I studied Chaucer, Shakespeare, Russian literature, and modern fiction—further solidifying my love of the written word. Dr. Looney taught me that it was just as important to feed your soul as it was to pay the bills. Oh, and that you should never pass up a McVitie's Milk Chocolate HobNob biscuit  when offered. These are tenets that I still hold true.

To all the teachers who have shaped my life, thank you!