A teacher's spirit

Come, take my hand. I am going to greet you with the BIGGEST hug, more of a tackle really, I am ready to go! (All before 9:00 am) I am going to tell you that I had pizza for dinner last night, how my Brother pulled my hair and how I read that new book you told me I should check out. I read it after I was supposed to be asleep. Don't tell my Mom though, O.K.? Thanks!

Come, take my hand. I am quiet this morning as there was too much noise in my house last night.

My Dad is really mad, he left for awhile. He wasn't there when I woke up this morning. I am glad to be here. I am glad for your smile, your touch, the way you really look at me to see if I am doing O.K. You see me, and that, shapes my world.

Come, take my hand. I was on the playground this morning and my friend wouldn't talk to me. She like, always talks to me but today she didn't. She likes her new friend better. They don't include me and when I said I liked her new skirt she kinda just looked at me and didn't say anything but I know if her new friend wasn't there she would have like, totally said something back to me. There is nothing as important to me as this is RIGHT NOW. My Mom, she kinda rubs her forehead and says "O.K. enough conversation about this!" But you, you are always interested. You ask me questions like, maybe my friend is having a bad day, and do I ever have days like that? And even though my Dad said kinda the same thing like 100 times, I listen to you.

I am not so upset anymore.

Come, take my hand. I am nervous to be here today. I don't always understand my Math work. Sometimes, I get embarrassed because everyone else is doing so much better than me.

Sometimes I don't want to try anymore. You come over to my desk and help me. You explain it in a new way that I get now. You tell me everybody gets stuck on something sometimes.

Maybe I'm not so bad at Math, after all?

Come child, take my hand. I have been here since 6:45 this morning and my 3rd cup of coffee is making me shake. I was up way past when I should have been last night, but I just couldn't sleep thinking about how I could: Help you. Guide you. Care for you. How I could explain something differently to keep that spark in your eye lit. How I could quietly feed you a little something extra because I know you didn't get enough to eat today. How I could celebrate with you on the triumphs, both big and small, that you accomplish each day. How I could comfort you when you stumble.

I was overwhelmed, thinking, how right before my eyes you grow so much each day, how you get on surer footing, with every step that you take. How humbled I am knowing each day together brings our time closer to an end. But I know when I see you in the hall, we will smile at each other. I will know that you carry a little sliver of me in yourself that will be there when you walk into your first job, or read to your child. I will remember what you were like when you were eight when we see each other when you are twenty. I will never forget, because that is the gift of my time with you here, that we share. So come child, take my hand and we will start our day together anew once again.