By Becky Holland
It’s funny how someone can come into your life for what seems like a short season and leave you with memories that last more than 30 years.
That’s what I’ve been thinking about since learning of Tina Mahaffee’s passing.
I first knew Tina as my geology professor at Middle Georgia College. I actually had her twice, which probably tells you a little something about my relationship with geology.
Let’s just say rocks and I didn’t always see eye to eye.
But Tina never made me feel like I couldn’t learn it. She had patience with me, even when I’m sure I tested every bit of it. She encouraged me, worked with me and believed I could get through something that didn’t come naturally to me.
And that was Tina.
She had a heart as big as the Mississippi River is long, particularly when it came to the underdog. If somebody needed a little extra help, encouragement or somebody in their corner, Tina was that person.
But the classroom wasn’t the only place I got to know her.
During my late teens and early 20s, I spent two or three years babysitting Tina’s three children, Mandi, Charlie and Hal.
Now, anybody who has ever spent time keeping up with three children knows you get to know a family pretty well. And somewhere between college classes, babysitting and everyday life, Tina became much more to me than the woman who taught my geology class.
I got to see another side of her.
I saw a mother who loved her children fiercely. She wanted them to be themselves. She recognized that each was different, with different personalities, strengths and needs.
Come to think of it, that’s probably what made her such a good teacher, too.
She didn’t expect everybody to fit into the same mold.
Looking back now, I realize how much those years meant to me. At the time, I was just a young woman trying to make my way through college, earn a little money babysitting and figure out what I wanted to do with my life.
I certainly wasn’t thinking about how those ordinary days would become memories I would carry into my 50s.
But they did.
And isn’t that something?
We go through life thinking we’ll remember the big occasions, the milestones and the celebrations. But sometimes it’s the everyday people and the ordinary moments that leave the deepest impressions.
Tina was one of those people for me.
She was kind to me when she didn’t have to be. She was patient when I needed patience. She trusted me with three of the people she loved most in this world.
And she made me feel like I mattered.
The older I get, the more I appreciate people who do that. People who take the time to encourage somebody, who see something worth believing in, even when that person might not see it in themselves.
I don’t know that I ever told Tina how much I appreciated her.
I wish I had.
That’s something else age teaches us. We tend to think there will always be another opportunity to say thank you, to catch up or to tell somebody what they meant to us.
Sometimes there isn’t.
To Mandi, Charlie and Hal, I hope you know how much your mom meant to me. Thank you for letting me be a small part of your lives all those years ago. I remember that time with a great deal of affection, and I’m keeping all three of you close in my thoughts.
And Tina, I sure wish I could sit down with you one more time.
I’d probably laugh about how much trouble I had with geology. I’d ask about the kids. And somewhere in that conversation, I’d finally tell you something I should have said a long time ago.
Thank you.
Thank you for being patient with that young college girl who didn’t always understand what you were teaching. Thank you for opening your home to me and trusting me with Mandi, Charlie and Hal. And thank you for being one of those people who made a difference without ever making a big fuss about it.
I don’t know if you ever realized how much I thought of you.
But I did, Tina. I really did.
And more than 30 years later, I still do.
Rest easy, my friend. I’m grateful our paths crossed, and I’m even more grateful they crossed in a way that gave me so many good memories.
I may have forgotten a good bit of what you taught me about geology, but I never forgot how you treated me.
And when you think about it, that’s a pretty wonderful legacy to leave behind.
Celebration of Life: A celebration of Tina Mahaffee’s life will be held Tuesday, November 10, 2026, at 6 p.m. at Mathis Funeral Home, 151 E. Dykes Street, Cochran, Georgia.
Photo from Mathis Funeral Home
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