Gone, But Not Forgotten

I had to pick up my youngest granddaughters from school one day. I saw some of the students still waiting for their parents. They hugged me and said, "I remember you!"

Oh, dear children, I remember you, too. I remember your smiles. I remember your cuteness. I remember when you lost a tooth. I remember when you told me that you saw me at the grocery store. I remember when you fell and scraped a knee. I remember when you gave me a ketchup hug at lunch, and I wore the stain on my shirt all day. I remember when you saw me in the hall and puffed out your cheeks to show me you put an imaginary bubble in your mouth so you couldn't talk in the hall. I remember you when you were sad because your dog died. I remember you when you were so proud of yourself for earning a good score on your spelling test. I remember you when you went to spin the wheel for being a pax leader and spun it right off of its stand. I remember you when I had to pull you out of the car because you didn't want to go to school. I remember you when you came to my office and had tears rolling down your cheek because you made a mistake. I remember you when you hid in the bathroom. I remember you when you scaled the fence, and your teacher did, too, so that you didn't get hurt. I remember you when you had to cut out the letters for the word "this" and paste them on the page, spelling the word correctly, but somehow you mixed up the letters and spelled s&** instead. This list is endless. Something reminds me every day about one of my former students.

Children, you should know that I will ALWAYS remember you. I care about you and hope that I see you become successful in the future as you graduate and go out into the world!

Later...