A little about a boy

Tomorrow marks my last “teaching” day for this school year.  Our last day of school is the 29th but after tomorrow, we have a lot of special activities and very little schoolwork type things left to do.  One of my students’ last day is tomorrow.  His family happens to be going on a trip this last week of school and he won’t be returning after he leaves tomorrow afternoon.  At 3 p.m. his summer will begin and I will watch him run up the sidewalk and go home, to get ready to leave on Saturday.

He’s a changed boy.  It’s imperceptible to anyone who doesn’t know him well.  As a boy who suffered (and I mean really suffered) in early childhood he boasts a hard outer shell, one he keeps with his big brown eyes and winning smile, and it’s hard to break into that shell to see the inside.  I don’t think I’ve ever worked harder to win a child’s trust and love and loyalty.  But when he runs up that sidewalk tomorrow, climbs in that car, and drives away, I know in my heart he’ll return in the fall … but he won’t have forgotten me.  And I know that because I have seen how he’s changed.