In 2004, Carolyn Denson James made it her mission to track down her high school music teacher, Marty Hayes, and personally thank her. “She meant the world to me”, James told TODAY.com. “She made everyone feel special, that they brought something to the table.” It was for this reason that James decided to become a teacher.

When she finally tracked down her former teacher, the two became close again. James soon discovered that Hayes was driving on sidewalks, becoming disoriented and confused, and having a hard time with her day-to-day activities. After accompanying her on a trip to the doctor’s office, they learned Hayes was living with Lewy body dementia, the second most common form of dementia following Alzheimer’s.

At first, James and her husband helped Hayes out with a few bills and drove her to her increasing doctor’s appointments. Three years after reconnecting, Hayes moved in with James and her husband so that they could take better care of her. While her health has worsened, her spirit remains positive.

She can no longer teach due to her condition, but she still believes in the power of music and the strong bond it helped her form with many of her students.

“She has no kids, her students are her kids,” James said. They have set up a fund to help pay for Hayes’ medical care, called We Are Her Kids. “The kids come back, you know, to see me,” Hayes said. “They’re like my family, so the music goes on.”

I find this story particularly heartwarming. While I searched for a great story to write about, I found several with “pay it forward” messages, which I love, of course. I am a strong believer in the phenomenon. Carolyn James took this a step further. What started out as a quest to track down a beloved teacher quickly became a much more powerful journey.

Teachers can really make all the difference to a struggling student. I formed some pretty strong bonds with a few of my teachers and I still think about them to this day. I often wonder what I would say if I came face to face with them again. While I didn’t grow up to become a teacher (a dream of mine when I was a child), I still value all the important lessons mine have taught me. My parents showered me with love. But there is something to be said for a teacher that recognizes you are having a bad day and does everything in their power to fix it. After having a fight with a friend of mine in high school- who tried to make it her mission to ruin my life- I was feeling pretty down and out. An English teacher noticed this all unfolding, and while she didn’t know the details, she saw that I was essentially being bullied. She wrote a note on one of my homework assignments- Illegitimi non carborundum. I remember her handing me back the assignment and she leaned down to whisper to me, “it means don’t let the bastards grind you down.” It was enough to know that she acknowledged that I was going through this, but that I was stronger than I seemed. It empowered me to stand up for myself, something I previously had trouble doing. I’m grateful beyond words for her kindness and encouragement.

That is just one of many stories I have. I am a firm believer that teachers are molding the minds of the future of this country and that they seldom get the credit they deserve. Over the course of their careers, they may teach thousands of students. What makes them all the more special is when those thousands of students can all say that that teacher made all the difference in their lives in school and beyond.