ohn Cruitt, 62, spent decades tracking down his third- grade teacher. He wanted to talk with Cecile Doyle about 1958--- the year his mother, who was seriously ill, passed away. Her death came just days before Christmas. Cruitt had been expecting to go home from school and decorate the Christmas tree. "When I found out she died, I could certainly relate to that, because when I was 11, my own father died," Doyle tells Cruitt at StoryCorps in Monroe, N.Y. "And you just don't know how you're going to go on without that person." When Cruitt returned to school, Doyle waited until all of the other children left the room at the end of the day, and told him that she was there if he needed her. "Then you kissed me on the head," Cruitt says. "And I felt that things really would be OK." "Well, Cruitt, I'm so glad that I could be there with you for that time," says Doyle, 82. Decades after his mother's death, Cruitt began to think more and more of Doyle. He finally wrote a letter: Dear Mrs. Doyle, If you are not the Cecile Doyle who taught English at Emerson School in Kearny, N.J., then I'm embarrassed, and you can disregard the letter. My name is John Cruitt, and I was in your third- grade class during the 1958-1959 school year. Two days before Christmas, my mother passed away, and you told me that you were there if I needed you. I hope life has been as kind to you as you were to me. God bless you. John Cruitt Doyle says his letter, which arrived in February, could not have come at a better time. Her husband, who passed away this August, was struggling with Parkinson's disease. "And I had just come home from the hospital, and I read this beautiful letter, and I just was overwhelmed," she says. "Well the funny thing is, when I finally wrote to you again after 54 years, I typed the letter--- I was afraid my penmanship wasn't going to meet your standards," Cruitt says as Doyle laughs. "John, what can I say--- I'm just glad that we made a difference in each other's life." After Cruitt's mother's death,   _  .
Cruitt totally relied on his father Doyle's words brought him comfort Cruitt didn't go to school regularly Doyle asked his classmates to help him