On the Last Day of Term
“Mary Poppins, don’t you love
us?” the children pleaded.
“And what would happen to me,
may I ask, if I loved all the children
I said good-bye to?” she replied.
A sharp return. Maybe even harsh. But given to help a child just about to take the next step towards adulthood. And, you will note, not actually an answer to the question. Because Mary would never lie. And because, like all good teachers, I’m pretty sure Mary did love every kid she ever had to say goodbye to. Even the obnoxious ones who have forever ruined their own names, by association, in your mind.
I’m sitting here wondering if I could still count all of the kids I’ve ever watched walk away on the last day of school… Not precisely. A close estimate, though. But I’ve only been doing this for 2 full years and a couple of summers and training terms. I think the number would still be under a thousand for me. Edging towards the upper 800s… And so many of them are still so clear in my head - maybe not the names, not for all of them, but the faces, the personalities, the quirks, the stories.
What happens to us, who love the vast hordes? Who take a little piece of each life we touch and stitch it into our own? Who cheer for small battles and hope that someday those victories compound into something important? What happens anyone who loves but has to leave?
us?” the children pleaded.
“And what would happen to me,
may I ask, if I loved all the children
I said good-bye to?” she replied.
A sharp return. Maybe even harsh. But given to help a child just about to take the next step towards adulthood. And, you will note, not actually an answer to the question. Because Mary would never lie. And because, like all good teachers, I’m pretty sure Mary did love every kid she ever had to say goodbye to. Even the obnoxious ones who have forever ruined their own names, by association, in your mind.
I’m sitting here wondering if I could still count all of the kids I’ve ever watched walk away on the last day of school… Not precisely. A close estimate, though. But I’ve only been doing this for 2 full years and a couple of summers and training terms. I think the number would still be under a thousand for me. Edging towards the upper 800s… And so many of them are still so clear in my head - maybe not the names, not for all of them, but the faces, the personalities, the quirks, the stories.
What happens to us, who love the vast hordes? Who take a little piece of each life we touch and stitch it into our own? Who cheer for small battles and hope that someday those victories compound into something important? What happens anyone who loves but has to leave?