An extremely tall smiling administrator was welcoming the students on a rainy (and snowy) spring morning one week ago. A young man hopped out of a car to hightail it to the front door. His mom was yelling for him to go straight to the nurse. Trying to walk at his pace I asked, “Happy Friday young man! Will you show me how we make an entrance into your awesome school?” He replied, “Hey, you’re that famous author!” GULP! Keep in mind Finley’s head was peeking out of a crossover pet carrier while I was balancing two other bags and a framed poster. Nothing about me oozed famous (or ever does for that matter, lol)! We were “buzzed” in as I heard the smiling tall greeter yell “You’re famous!” Another GULP! Talk about pressure! It was too late to go back to my car. This was my 4th school visit in two weeks. Surely I could do this! Nothing but smiles and courtesy were waiting. Kids and parents were coming and going. Like typical, the secretaries were buzzing around managing the school world. A huge smile, and admittedly some tears, broke out on my face. “Thank you, God,” I whispered.
Just as two weeks prior, and that very Monday, I was greeted by “old” friends and new ones. With care and compassion they asked what I might need before setting up. Within twenty minutes classes would arrive. My heart was full. A calm came over me. Inside that building the clouds had lifted. They filed in class by class with huge smiles. And Finley. Well, she was just darling and they loved her. As I read my book their excitement grew as every page complimented something they were learning in class. You should’ve seen their eyes light up when they saw something they had JUST learned! Of course, the history junkie in me had goosebumps when most of them yelled “Lewis and Clark!” before I could even share about these famous men. In a world of war, disease, extreme inflation, isolation,…where “social” media makes us less social, yet handy using technology as a hate weapon, I soaked in the joy of the innocence.
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