THOSE of us, who share the blessing of having been a part of the family of Holy Cross College, have had the fortune of observing closely the lives of two such great teachers like Sister Marian Teresa and Sister Joseph Mary. Anybody who has ever got to know these two women surely will never be able to forget them. They have touched the lives of all students and made them better human being.

Being a very recent Holy Cross college graduate it is a matter of tremendous grief that today I am writing about one of these extraordinary women and she won't be able to read it. None of us ever imagined that we would have to look back upon her life so soon. It came as a sudden shock to all of us when we heard the news of the sudden death of our beloved Sister Marian Teresa a few week back, on June 25, 2011, who most of us Crossians have known as a teacher and principal during our student years.

Sister Marian Teresa was a missionary and visionary in the education sector of Bangladesh and played a vital role in shaping the lives of thousands of girls passing through Holy Cross College on their journey to womanhood. Being born at Golla parish of Dhaka, Sister Marian Teresa went on to become the first local nun for the 'Holy Cross' congregation which she entered in 1965. As a nun, she served twice in the post of area coordinator for the Holy Cross nuns in Bangladesh and in 1950 she was appointed the first principal of the popular Holy Cross College for girls in Dhaka. She joined Holy Cross College as a principal in 1972 and spread the light of her knowledge and undaunted leadership around into the souls of her students and all around her till recently in 2010.

We will always have the memory of going to college and seeing sister there to greet us at the entrance, ready to make sure that we were being the disciplined Holy Cross girls she wanted us to be. Whenever each of us walks past her room we will have flashbacks of sister silently sitting at her desk, writing away at her important work. In every function yet to be held on the stage of our Holy Cross auditorium, we will recall sister gently walking up the stairs to give her speech- to share her always soft-spoken words to us. We will remember, always.

Sister Marian Teresa had a soft-spoken, gentle disposition and the things about her characteristics that caught anybody's eyes were qualities that people yearn to personalise all their lives but fail. She had the rare and unique special quality of treating everyone with equality and giving attention to the little things in life that most people tend to ignore and neglect. Gracefully having to pull of the demanding job of a principal in the charming way she did.

In fife, few people are able to touch the lives of millions. As an educator, Sister Marian Teresa not only left us impregnated with her memories but also left us hopes and dreams of the women and pioneers she was pushing each of us to become.

Sometimes 'good-bye' is just not an option. We cannot bid farewell to you, sister. Not now, not ever.