Remembering my first piano teacher. Who are you thankful toward from your early days?

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I took piano lessons from from the time was maybe five until I was eight. I cannot remember her name, but I remember where she sat, and how she taught me. I got little silver stars in my piano book as I was working on a piece. I got big gold stars in my piano book when I completed a piece. When we moved from Berkeley to Chicago, when I was about to turn nine, my parents hooked me up with an older lady who was way too serious. She didn't even want me to play sports with my friends after school. I quit piano lessons but kept playing piano. Now, I want to be like my first piano teacher. I want my students to ENJOY playing music. Today, I am practicing Children's Dance, by Alex DeGrassi, on guitar. I am going to teach it to Kate, my 15-year-old guitar student who has been with me since she was twelve. She had a similar experience to mine with an overly serious (in her case) Russian lady who made piano "not fun." She and I have never done piano together, but I have told her that I would be willing to teach her "improvising" on piano. Not reading others' notes. Generating your OWN music.We'll see if it happens. Have you had certain teachers who inspired you? I am going to get back to practicing Children's Dance now. I survived getting my blood drawn.