Social Media Helps Find El Paso Graduate Who Left Heartwarming Doorbell Message for Former Teacher
I have a love/hate relationship with social media. Sometimes social media can be toxic but sometimes it can be used for good and that’s exactly what happened to two El Paso parents.
You may remember back in June I shared a story about how one Eastwood high school graduate decided to stop by his former 4th-grade teacher’s home to drop off her favorite flowers, sunflowers.
The mystery graduate, Christopher Lucero, wanted to pay tribute to his teacher that left such an impact on his life.
Mandy Ferguson tragically passed away on Thanksgiving day back in 2018 and this year her first 4th-grade class would be graduating.
Christopher was one of those students and when he stopped by Mandy’s home to drop off the sunflowers no one was home so he decided to leave a special message for her parents on their Nest doorbell camera.
“I just gave these to commemorate your daughter as she was my fourth-grade teacher at Eastwood Heights elementary and I was part of her first graduating class. I thank her for what she did in my life and I just wanted to give these to you for commemorating your daughter's life work,” said Christopher in the Nest doorbell camera.
Christopher left behind the sunflowers but he didn’t leave his name or contact info. Mandy’s parents were so moved by his kind words that they reached out in hopes of finding Christopher to meet him in person to thank him for his kind gesture.
Within minutes of posting their story online, Christopher was found!
The Reunion:
This past week Christopher and Mandy’s parents were able to meet in person and before Mandy’s Dad, Dan Ferguson could thank Christopher he wanted to thank his mom for raising such a great kid.
“I want to let you know that parents have a lot to do with this and that you guys did a great job,” said Dan to Christopher’s mother.
Christopher shared memories from his time as a student in Mandy’s fourth-grade class and jokingly mentioned that his first interaction with Mandy wasn’t such a good one because of her favorite football team.
“We didn't come to good terms at the beginning because as I walked in there, there was a big Green Bay Packers sign in the front and I don't know if you know this but my team is the Vikings,” joked Christopher.
Christopher was overwhelmed with the amount of attention his kind gesture received online. He said that he did not think he warranted any of the publicity but he was happy it resulted in him meeting his fourth-grade teacher’s parents to thank them personally for the work their daughter did as an educator.
“It was just as a remembrance because obviously I can't thank them anymore so I just thought I’d thank the family.”
Christopher also joked that if he knew Mandy’s parents were going to go through all this trouble just to find him, he would have left his name and info on a post-it note with the sunflower!
Kind moments like this one gives comfort to me when I think about our future generation because with kids as kind as Christopher, our future is in good hands.