As I walked up the school steps yesterday, Abby was already running, launching from the ground and clinging to my neck. It took a minute to understand through her giggles what she was telling me.
You gave her a special badge at school, and not just any badge–the gold badge. You had awarded my daughter for a year of helpfulness and kindness. My daughter, often timid in new situations, marched proudly to the Principal’s office to be photographed for the hallway wall.
You are the reason Abby carries herself with confidence.
That sweet, little girl has watched her family come apart. She has struggled to grasp the landscape of divorce. She has gone from a universe where Mom was always accessible to a world of stretched schedules, early wakeups, rushed bedtimes, and buses to and from daycare to extend her school day.
She has flinched at my exhausted outbursts, retreating into her room and inside of her head. She has curled up beside me and rubbed my back as I cried, instead of the other way around.
My heart hurts for my daughter, who has been forced to be much older than 6. The most devastating part is recognizing the long-term damage I am creating. Having lost my mom at her age, I know this as an absolute.
She will struggle with making connections. She will cling. She will push away. She will feel isolated.
You have been her oasis. You have provided comfort each day. You have given her a stable foundation she simply can’t find anywhere else right now. You are teaching her that when the rest of life is off-kilter, school can provide refuge.
I have been in your classroom and watched 24 faces brighten in your presence. Each child feels safe and loved in your room. You value their words and demonstrate to each of them that they are important. Abby needed that, as do so many of your students.
As the school year has progressed, so have we. The tears that my daughter too often witnesses are more often based in happiness. My daughter’s resilience and the joy you bring her each day heal my own heart.
I will continue the unremitting work to build the home she deserves. I thank you for being her counterpoint to the chaos. Just as I still treasure books and letters from the teachers that gave extra care to me, I know Abby will always remember you.
As this school year closes, please know your chapter is ongoing. Your kindness has had impact, on both of us. Thank you.
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