Barbara Hollis was not active on social media, so she was quite surprised when people told her that a former student had turned to Facebook in an attempt to reconnect.

Grace Kelley’s plea on Maj’s List sparked a flood of accolades for the guidance counsellor, who had such a positive impact on her as a student at Purvis Primary School.

Mrs Hollis, who retired five years ago after 36 years counselling students in the public school system, was floored.

“It was so very humbling for me. She sent me screenshots of some of the comments and I just couldn’t believe it,” she said.

Mrs Hollis volunteers as a Pink Lady at King Edward VII Memorial Hospital. Last week, she was stunned when a former student told her that the posts were visible to all 26,000 members of Maj’s List.

“It's been pretty amazing, the comments. People were sending me messages, sending screenshots and I continue to bump into people who tell me about it. I'm a very humble person and in my profession, you don't expect accolades or immediate rewards. So it's certainly been very sweet of people to make such nice comments.”

Ms Kelley, 32, moved to the United States with her parents at the age of 9. On her trips back home, she would often ask her grandmother, who worked as the “lollipop lady” at the Warwick school, about Mrs Hollis. Occasionally, their paths would cross but eventually they lost touch.

Ms Kelley, who lives in Atlanta, Georgia, never forgot Mrs Hollis’s kindness.

She was a new student when they met, having transferred from Paget Primary School in P3.

“I was able to come and talk to her during school and after school. My granny was the crossing lady at the bottom of the hill and if I'm not mistaken, sometimes she even gave me a ride down the hill after school. She was always pleasant, always nice.”

Once she moved to the US she would travel back to Bermuda every summer. She would usually run into Mrs Hollis or hear from her grandmother that the guidance counsellor had been asking about her.

“She always remembered me. And with so many students, it just lets you know how personable she is and how she cares for people. I always would try to see her when I would come to visit. I just never forgot her as a person.”

Ms Kelley, who had an American accent and, unlike most new students, was not entering P1, stood out from the start, Mrs Hollis said.

“I just tried to make sure that her transition was easier. I tried to help her to make friends. I always had an open-door policy, so I let her know she could always come and see me any time she wished. We just seemed to develop a bond. I hadn't seen her for a while, so it was just so sweet that she reached out to me.”

Ms Kelly took to Maj's List after other efforts to track Mrs Hollis down failed. A search of the phone book listed only a handful of people with that surname, none of which were Mrs Hollis or her husband. There were also few results when they scoured the phone book for people with her maiden name, Smatt.

One person they called told them where Mrs Hollis’s husband worked. Before following up on that, they tried another number – by chance it belonged to Mrs Hollis’s sister-in-law.

“We found her maiden name in a Royal Gazette obituary from way, way back,” she said. “So we called her sister-in-law first. She offered to contact Mrs Hollis for us and she ended up calling us the very next day.”

The unexpected call was a delightful surprise for the former guidance counsellor.

“I've never had anyone go to this extent to try to find me, that's for sure,” she said.

In the meantime, the post was up on Facebook.

“There were so many people commenting on that one post that had so many nice things to say about her. People just talked about how sweet a person she was, how she made their transitions easy. It wasn’t just students, there were even parents commenting, from different schools as well, saying how she was such a pleasure to be around,” Ms Kelley said.

“I did not expect any of that. I wasn't surprised by the comments they made about her but I was shocked that the comments went on for days. I did not expect so many people to have so many things to say but I figured that would be the fastest way for me to find out where she is because so many people post so many things in that group. I was like, somebody has to know her.”

Mrs Hollis’s call came the day before Ms Kelley flew back to the US after a visit here last month.

“We met up. We talked for about five or ten minutes because I was on the way to the airport. We took some pictures, caught up, and we've been messaging on and off since then.”

Mrs Hollis said she was thrilled that she was able to see Ms Kelley and meet her daughter, Mercy, before they left.

The fact that a former student took the time to seek her out underscores the vital role that guidance counsellors and teachers play in shaping lives, she added.

“I think the bottom line with all of these children is that they just want to feel cared about. They just want to feel valued and loved because you just never know what they are experiencing in their homes – that was always something I kept in the forefront. So I just think that's the most important thing you know, to show them love and affection.

“In the counselling profession and in education in general, you never know when something you have said or done can really make a difference in a child's life. So it's important to be passionate and always speak and act from your heart. Children know when you are authentic and genuine. They are very perceptive.”

Asked what motivated her to make the effort, Ms Kelley explained how she had always appreciated Mrs Hollis’s “energy and spirit”.

“She was always one that held a place in my life when I was a child. I just wanted to make sure she was all right. I wanted to see how she was doing. She had that impact on not just me but so many others and it's always so nice to receive your flowers while you're still alive, to know how people feel about you while you're still alive. When you're gone, it doesn't have the same impact.”