The Best She Had

Here's one of the most precious stories ever! Last week was Thank a Teacher week. Since I'm a school counselor and not a classroom teacher, I usually don't receive many affirmations, which I completely understand. I don't mention this in a whiney way, but just to show how meaningful the events in this story were to me. The first hour of the day is always my most busy and stressful, as I'm hurrying all over the building to encourage and monitor children. Well, as I dashed into the busy hallway while students were going to their classrooms around 7:30 on Thursday, a child touched my arm and called my name softly. A petite first grader with a shiny waist-length pony tail looked up at me and said, "I have something for you, Miss Mimi." Even though I was in a hurry, I stopped, and we backed up against the wall so the other children could pass. Taking off her backpack and setting it on the floor, the little girl opened it up and laboriously searched through several zipped pockets in search of her gift. Finding what she was looking for, she beamed as she handed me a highly decorated white envelope, which I need to describe. On the front was a big yellow smiley face wearing a blue-green hat. On the envelope's back were 56 brightly 
colored stars. "Is this for ME?", I asked in anticipation. Smiling, she nodded and stood back to watch me open her offering. As I pulled out a card, I saw a pink-striped invitation with a picture of a heart. It really looked like a valentine, and when I noticed the words "You're Invited", I'll admit that I was a bit disappointed, thinking that it wasn't a thank you card after all. However, when I opened the "invitation", I felt a rush of such love for this little child. On the left side of the card, where the page was white, she had completely covered it with art work. There was a big yellow sunshine with a smiley face, as I teach our kids to spread sunshine. The sun was surrounded by 26 orange stars, and the picture was complete with blue skies and bright green grass. On the right hand side of the card, she had written her own sweet message on the lines which were really meant for time, date, place, and other invitation details. Her words, in three different colors, said, "Mes Memi yu or the bist tehr." I've already mentioned that it's rare for me to receive cards during teacher appreciation week, but the sweetest part of the story is that this little girl is one of the most underprivileged children in our school. We have mostly white-collar, educated, middle to upper middle class families as our demographic. Therefore, the fact that this angel girl had used whatever card she could find around her house, had decorated it in such minute detail, had personalized it just for me, and had tracked me down to hand-deliver it, just absolutely touched my heart and was the highlight of my week! Hers was the only thank you I received, and although I saw children bringing beautiful flowers to their teachers every single day, I wouldn't have traded this little girl's heartfelt expression of love for the most extravagant of those bouquets! This story really reminds me of the tale of the Widow's Mite in the Bible, in which the poor widow gave what she could. Although her offering was a tiny amount, it was sacrificial and given with great love. Her motives were pure and meaningful, as were this tiny little girl's!