Thursday, November 9, 2023

Octopus

 Somehow,

And I’m not sure how,

I found out that one of my students, K, likes octopuses.

(This is the same student I wrote about a few weeks ago

Whose father died suddenly over the summer.)

Because I have a soft spot for said student,

I decided to give him an octopus book that I found in my classroom library.

 

I laid the book on my desk so that K would see it when he walked in.

He lit up the moment he did.

“A book on octopus!” he said.

“Did you know I like octopus?” he inquired.

“Yes,” I responded.

“How did you know I liked octopus?” he questioned.
“I just did,” I responded.

And then he opened the book and began to draw a shell from its pages.

 

About 15 minutes later,

Out of the blue, K said,
“Wait. Who is giving me this book?”

I said, “I am.”

He said, “You are?!”

“THANK YOU!

THANK YOU SOOOO MUCH.”

Then he came around my desk,

And gave me a huge hug.

“Thank you,” he said again.

“You’re welcome,” I said, smiling.

 

There are a lot of difficult, hard things happening in this world,

And thanks to the media,

We seem to know all about them,

All at once.

Quite honestly, it’s overwhelming.

But in the midst of all that’s bad,

There is still so much good.

There is still so much right.

 

May we be a people who try to hold to what is good and right,

Who smile at the simplicity of 1st grader’s exclamation of their love for octopus,

And who take heart in the genuine sincerity of a child who has lost so much in his short life,

But who is determined to truly live nonetheless.

Amen. 

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