Week 2 Touched by an angel

Working is special education often reminds me of just how lucky we truly are.  I have worked with children who struggle each day with the basics of life such as communication, movement, toileting, feeding and just the basic desire to want to live.  Some come in your door and you do your best, but understand that your abilities are limited.  My first year teaching I had a very special child walk through my classroom doors.  She was 5 years old, recently placed in foster care, never had been in school and weighed 17 pounds.  She has been locked in a room for the first 5 years of her life and given food on the floor from time to time.  She had been diagnosed with Trisomy 21 and failure to thrive.   This child needed so much I wasn't sure where to begin.  With a lot of love and patience this child blossomed like a beautiful flower.  She became very social, began picking up classroom routines and demonstrated a desire for life that I had never seen before.  Every morning, regardless of the day she bounced off the bus with the biggest smile you could imagine.  It warmed my heart and reminded why I had decided to go into teaching.  By the end of the school year she weighed 32 pounds, have acquired a huge vocabulary and was ready for kindergarten.  The growth this child made in 9 months, given the opportunity to grow and develop was truly amazing.  As I go to school each day I think of the difference that I made in her life.  I remind myself that this why I do what I do everyday and deep down I hope that I am transforming another child in the same way I was able to transform her.
My favorite book is called "Love You Forever" which is written by Robert Munsch.  This is a story about a little boy who is always getting into trouble.  Throughout the book his mother becomes frustrated with all that he does, but each night she rocks him on her lap and tells him that she will love him forever.  As time passes he moves out and becomes independent but she goes across town in the  middle of the night to tell him she she will love him forever.  As time goes on she becomes elderly and the son realizes that he also will love her forever.  He goes to her retirement home rocks his mother and tells her he will love her forever.  It just depicts the time line of life and how our roles within the family change but that is what makes us a family.  My children have also grown to love this book over time and one of my sons recently bought me a copy with a hand written message in the front of it for Christmas.  It is a story that can be handed from generation to generation.