On the last day of Teacher Appreciation Week, students brought their gifts to my wife. In the style of First Graders, they shared what their parents had purchased in combination with their own creations and expressions of love.
One student watched with disappointment. He hadn’t brought a present. But even though his mind worked more slowly than most of the other students, the wheels began to turn.
At the beginning of the year, other teachers warned my wife that he would be difficult, that perhaps he would not be able to function in a normal classroom. Facing significant learning and social challenges, he may always struggle.
But my wife loves him as she loves all of her students. I know she loves them, because she tells them that she loves them and she treats them like she loves them. Around our dinner table, we hear her speak of her students with a decisive overtone of love. Especially for this student.
Because she loves this student, my son looks out for him and my daughter checked on him in the bus line each afternoon in her role with Safety Patrol. On a recent trip to have lunch with one of my children, I stopped by my wife’s classroom and this student came up to share with me what he had learned.
I beamed like a proud father. Even though I’ve only seen him a few times, I feel like I know him and love him, because of the way my wife speaks of him at home.
As his wheels continued to turn, he noticed a potential gift on his desk. So, he wrapped it carefully, drew a picture with a message that only a loving teacher could decipher, and delivered his gift, proud to be giving like the other children.
And though my wife received many nice things that day, perhaps no gift was greater than the gift of the half-eaten donut.
Worth Repeating
Love is a gift. You can’t buy it, you can’t find it, someone has to give it to you. Learn to be receptive of that gift.
-Kurt Langner
