Coming and Going

Day 75

I am thankful for adaptability.  Surely this is "hardwired" into us.   While I don't believe that all change is good change I do believe "...... that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose."  Romans 8:28  I can get mired in the changes I experience but even these are "the small stuff." 

One of my students moved this week.  It's not an unusual occurrence at this school, this year.  The residents of our neighborhood are barely hanging on.  They move for the next subsistence job and into the next subsistence housing.  Even knowing that I'm knocked on my side by this family and this child's moving away.  Every teacher hates to have favorites and every teacher does, whether he or she admits it.  We do.  K became a favorite because she worked so hard.

In the face of frustration she tried again, and again, and again.  She learned, she grew.   She learned that she could learn to read and that it took work.  She learned that there are grown ups who had trouble learning to read but they grew up and made good lives.  She learned that she is good at teaching little ones the simple things like holding a pencil and coloring like big kids.  She learned that she is the kind of person who is a good friend.  She learned that she is good with her hands, that she can learn to knit and to weave.  She learned that she can show other students how to do those things.  I hope she remembers all these things.  I am so sad to lose her from my classroom and my life.  I do know, though, that she is adaptable.  She will adjust to the change of moving to a new home and a new school.  She will approach difficulties with frustration but she will try and work so hard.   Having an impact is a two way street. 

 The beginning of a not so cloudy day: