~ Henry Adams
My
third-grade son takes a Creative Writing class after school. Today he came home and asked if I wanted to
read an essay that he had written and then read aloud to the class. He said he was supposed to write about a
friend.
When I began
reading my son's essay, my eyes filled with tears. He had written about a special friend who
"isn't on earth anymore." He
wrote: "That person was fun and
kind. We talked a lot. She was always happy and never sad. She was an adult." My son wrote about a teacher at his former
school, a woman who became a family friend and who died two years ago. I was amazed that he remembered so many
things about her -- that she gave him popcorn, that her classroom was a special
place, that she and I used to talk... and talk and talk. He also wrote, "Whenever I saw her, she
was smiling at me and at everyone else."
Anyone who
knew this very special person will always remember her smile. She shared it generously and it lit up the
room the moment she walked in. The
memory of it also stayed with you. I
miss her very much and am grateful not only for her friendship, but also for
all she taught me. But I was stunned
that my son could remember so much and that she had impacted him so profoundly. Kindness has a way of lasting -- it can even outlive us.
When my son
saw my teary eyes, he said, "Mama, don't cry." And then he added, "But I cried in my
mind a little."
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