The Reason

Yesterday, my slice was about the many blessings I have.  I was prompted to write about them because of a situation with a young man I have in my seventh grade Language Arts class.  At the end of the year last year, he was diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor.  He went through chemo over the summer before starting back to school this fall.  He was only allowed to attend a partial day so he was in my class and in my team mate's Math class.  He would leave to go home around 10:30.  His attitude was positive and he was thrilled to be here at school.  He always had a smile on his face and a kind word for his classmates.

 He was doing very well for a while and the tumor had shrunk, but he was scheduled for another round of chemo (at double the dose of the summer) after being back at school for about eight weeks.  He became very ill this time (he wasn't sick over the summer from it) and had some very negative side effects from the treatments.  He has not been able to come back to school, but he has never been out of the thoughts of his friends here or of his teachers.  Yesterday, I received this forwarded email :

And then a little later in the day a second one--

I have lost people in my life I cared very deeply about, but they were adults and older than I was.  This young man is twelve years old.  He is a blessing to all who know him.  His strength and grace and his compassion for those of us he will be leaving is truly amazing.  HE is the one trying to comfort US!  I am at a loss to describe my feelings because they are so jumbled.  If I feel like this and he is not my child, my heart aches for his parents and grandparents.   I wrote about my blessings last night because it was the only way I knew to try to step back from the emotions of the day.

If you feel so led, please say a prayer (or many) for this special child and his family.   

And hug those you love a little tighter.