Tuesday, May 11, 2010

A Heartwarmer

If you have ever been in an elementary school for any period of time you know two things.  One, kids come in from recess and need a thousand things...I have to go to the bathroom...So and so kicked the soccer ball over the fence..My knee hurts...Can I go to the nurse...She looked at me...etc, etc, etc.  And two, they smell like wet dog.  Just a fact.  Not really pertinent to the story, but information you need to know.

On this particular day all of the above happened, except for one boisterous voice that needed to be heard.  The difference was this voice was not speaking to have his needs met, but to let out something he witnessed.  Something that bothered him.  Really bothered him.  Okay.  I'm listening, Dalton.  Go ahead.

"Mrs. Torres, Janie (not her real name) invited everyone in her class to her birthday party on Saturday.  Everyone is making fun of her because she did, and they decided to tell her that they would come, but not show up."

Now let me stop right here and share a few things.  Little Janie was an outcast.  She had one friend, and that one friend moved in the middle of the year.  Her family was really, really poor.  I mean really poor.  She only wore dresses, and the dresses she had were hand-me-downs from ages ago.  In good condition, but WAY out of fashion.  For her to invite her whole class (with handmade invitations) to her birthday party was a big deal.  Okay, back to the story...

"Dalton, I'm glad that something like this bothers you.  It shows you care."

"Anyone else hear about this?" (the whole class raised their hands)

"Okay.  What can we do to make this better for Little Janie?"

Lots of different answers came about, and we discussed each one in depth.  Most solutions came from the girls who decided to ask her to play with them more, and show interest in the things she liked doing.

I was pretty pleased with their solutions, but noticed Dalton hadn't said much.  He just said he was going to do something.  I kind of wondered what that something was, but didn't probe too much.  He was deep in thought.  We moved on.

That was on a Friday.  I came home and shared the story with Steven, but other than that I didn't let the situation consume me too much, and decided to check on Little Janie first thing Monday morning.

Monday morning came, and Little Janie was no where to be found, but I did run smack into Dalton.

"Mrs. Torres, have you seen Janie this morning?"

"No, Dalton I haven't.  That's just who I was looking for.  If I find her, I'll tell her you were looking for her."

As Dalton turned to walk away, I saw he had a large gift sack in his hand.  Complete with a card and tissue paper.  Man, the tears started welling up in my eyes.   I knew why he was searching for Little Janie.

Turns out he never found her that morning, and it was a good thing, because it all came down to perfect timing.  Since he didn't see her before class, he decided to take the gift to lunch.  He knew he'd see her there along with the rest of her class.  After washing his hands, he walks straight over to her, hands her the gift, and says, "I know I didn't get invited to your party, but I wanted to give you this."

That girl was beaming!  I mean ear to ear smiling.  It was a beautiful moment.  She opened the gift and found a new purse with some girly things inside.  Dalton had hand picked it out, and spent his own money to buy it.  The rest of the kids (who had been a bunch of meany pants to her) just sat there and stared.  The best part about it was they wouldn't make fun of Dalton for giving her a gift.  They were all friends with him.  The girls wanted to go out with him, and the boys knew he could beat them up.  It was a beautiful, beautiful moment.  Moments that make you thankful for teaching.

6 comments:

Kristin Gillespie said...

Thank you so much for sharing this. I needed a little pick me up this morning. Even though it made me cry; they were tears of happiness!

Anonymous said...

Thank you Amanda for sharing this story !! Now that D' is 15 and grown up quite a bit since then, he still has that big heart of gold! He decided this year to join a Club at school that helps kids with disabilities, and today he left with his club to join them at the Special Olympics in Stillwater. I am so proud of him and I do pay a special thanks to you and Steven for taking Dalton under your wing!! We were so blessed to have you two a part of our lives!!!

Anonymous said...

Thank you mrs.torres for the story about me and yes ive been thinking how that girl is. i think her name was katie and im so glad that i met you guys. I love you guys with all my heart and im having a great time with these special kids. Tell steven I said hi and you should write a book cause you really can catch a persons attention. I miss you guys so much, and i will come visit you sometime,love you
Dalton

NHP said...

TEARS. Yes, that was such a great story. I cried, then I teared up again seeing he posted a comment. Iheartkiddos!
Thank you for sharing.
Hope your haircut styled perfectly!
Natasha

Lori Danelle said...

This is the BEST thing I've heard in a long time!! I really hope my two little girls grow up to be as sensitive as Dalton!! At the ages of 1 & 3 they can absolutely melt your heart and then turn around and growl. . .so hopefully I can encourage the sweet part and not the little monster!! :)

the Pulleys said...

Precious moment and beautiful story...thank you for sharing. I can't see the screen for the tears now, but I'm so thankful for stories like these that enhance my life and the life of my family who I'll share this with. Be still my heart...