The Last Visitor

A story of how a teacher’s greatest burden became her greatest gift

In her teaching days, Miss Rosalyn had known many students.

But Albert was the one she could never forget.

He stormed into class late, slammed chairs without care, mocked every lesson with a laugh that made others follow. When she tried to discipline him, he shot back with words sharp enough to cut: “Who even cares about this?” The class would laugh, and she would feel the sting alone.

There were nights she sat alone in the faculty room, burying her face in her hands. Other teachers gave up on Albert, but she carried the burden—day after day, year after year. He was her living cross, the student who drained every ounce of strength she had.

Time passed. The classrooms emptied, her voice grew tired, her hair turned gray. Decades later, she lay weak in a hospital bed, breath shallow, body frail.

While a priest was anointing her, she slowly opened her eyes.

“Albert?” she asked weakly. “Albert…?”

The priest leaned closer, his voice calm, almost tender. “Yes, Miss Rosalyn. It’s me.”

Hearing his voice as assurance, she felt life returning to her body for the first time in weeks. What seemed like the end became a beginning she never expected.

Miss Rosalyn recovered and lived for several more years, always making her way to the back pew of Father Albert’s Masses. And every time he raised the chalice, her eyes filled with tears—not from pain, but from a gratitude so deep, it carried the weight of all her teaching days.

Students often find strength in their teachers.

But in that moment, it was the teacher who found her strength in a student.

And for her, the last visitor had become the greatest gift of her life.

𝚃𝚢𝚙𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝙾𝚞𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝙱𝚕𝚞𝚎 • 𝖽𝖺𝗋𝖾𝗆.𝗆𝗎𝗌𝗂𝖼.𝖻𝗅𝗈𝗀