Letter to the Editor: Trey Gowdy: She changed the world

She changed the world

Iris Ezell went to be with the Lord recently. She was a wife, mother, grandmother and friend to countless people.

She was also an elementary school teacher in Spartanburg, where I first met her more than 40 years ago in a portable classroom at Jesse Boyd Elementary School. She was a great teacher, and I was a terrible student, underwhelming in both performance and behavior.

She asked me to stay after school one day, which to me meant I was in trouble and would soon be in trouble with my parents. She pulled two chairs face-to-face, cupped my face in her hands and said: "I believe in you. You can do anything you put your mind to. But you have to try hard and you have to listen. I believe in you, Trey. Believe in yourself."

I remember it like it was yesterday. No matter what I forget later in life, I’ll always remember her substituting a word of affirmation, belief and confidence when she could have offered more discipline and punishment. There are days I cannot remember where I parked my truck, but there is never a day I cannot take you to the spot Iris Ezell talked to me after school.

To all the young people who have visited me throughout the years and expressed your desire to run for office or engage in politics because you wanted to "change the world," you’ll recall my answer has always been the same. "If you want to change the world, teach."

Iris Ezell is the reason I told you that. She offered a change that no book, campaign or piece of legislation could ever equal. She offered unwarranted belief and affirmation in a young person's life.

Rest in peace, Mrs. Ezell. You changed the world — one life at a time.

U.S. Rep. Trey Gowdy

This appeared in the Letters to the Editor section in the Sunday edition of the Spartanburg Herald Journal. Read here: http://www.goupstate.com/opinion/20161030/sundays-letters-concerned-about-election