Friday, November 5, 2021

Notes from public school - Day 56

For as long as I can remember, I’ve loved words.

From childhood all the way to young adulthood, I carried a dictionary in my back pocket.

I spent my free time looking up and learning new words. 

Serendipity, prodigy and astonish are three of my  favorites.

Now that I carry an iPhone with a Merriam Webster app on my home screen, I no longer carry a dictionary in my back pocket.

But I still spend my free time looking up and learning new words.

Today, however, I looked up an old word that I already knew.

Kindness.

I want to make sure I define it just right for the little Latino student who brought a hand made whale to me at school today.

“Kindness: of a sympathetic or helpful nature” says Webster’s.

Look at this beautiful whale.

I can see see how the child took plain blue and white cloth and stitched beauty into it.

I can see how the child used a simple needle and thread and design to show her genius.

I can see how the child used the ordinary to make something full of wonder.

I am astonished at my little student.

Look how prodigious she is.

Her gift is a serendipity to me.

She is a serendipity to me.

She is kindness.




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