Some say bad times bring out the worst in people. I tend to differ. I believe bad times also bring out the best in people.

This time of year, I often think back to April 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic. When the students at Killingly High School were given a choice: either stay home and learn remotely, or attend school with a mask and follow strict guidelines.

It was a time when everything changed in what we knew to be true. Sports events stopped, dances and clubs ceased to exist, and everything a child needed to grow and develop socially…disappeared. Many children fell to the wayside. The computer was a lonely world.

I was a retired teacher, working a second career as a paraprofessional that I loved. In the past, I had worked with a student named Tanner Davis. In 2020, during his junior year, he was one of those students who chose to work from home on his computer. I would be the paraprofessional contact, monitoring his work and attending his classes.

Despite having several degrees in education, I was profoundly dyslexic in math, and that included math to solve science formulas. Somehow, I was able to move him along in his subjects, that is, until science class.

I would call Tanner and we would work by phone. His family owned and ran the Murdock Farm in Woodstock with a hefty number of cows. During this time, his grandfather died. It was a hard blow. He told me how he remembered the good times, especially his grandfather’s love for coffee.

With pride, Tanner would smile and tell me his grandfather’s mantra.

“Somewhere in the world, it’s coffee hour, and someone is relaxing with a cup of coffee.”

When you teach a child, that child’s world becomes part of a teacher’s life. It is a mystery how the bond forms between student and teacher, and for many, becomes a lifelong link between the two.

It was not long before trouble began in science. The formulas were difficult for me to learn and explain back to Tanner. One day the teacher assigned groups. Tanner could follow as he was logged into the classroom via zoom. The group he was in contained five boys. One being a young man named Seth Matthew Varin.

Every day, Tanner fell more and more behind. I was unable to keep with the pace. He asked his group members if they could help him. Every one declined, except one.

Seth took him under his wing and helped him on the phone. After that, he took an interest in Tanner. He was like a guardian angel watching over him.

We tend to think the worst of teenagers. I believe this is because teenagers remind us who we used to be. Teenagers live for the moment, they laugh, they drive their cars too fast, somehow secretly knowing this moment is fleeting.

Tanner passed science and became a senior. But he almost did not graduate. His father died that year. He stopped coming to school.

The principal and staff made a plan and together they helped him graduate.

The Bible says that angels dwell among us. When we look for angels, we tend to look for wings and a white dress. However, there are human angels that come in all different colors and sizes.

Look closely. You may be looking at an angel.

Concetta Falcone-Codding is a 1971 graduate of the Norwich Free Academy and is the author of “The Lonely Nest.” You can contact Concetta at concettafalconecodding1@gmail.com