Gift.

I just received one of the most greatest gifts I've ever received. A student of mine, beautiful bright-eyed perky-smiled kid, came in at the end of the day and handed me a Christmas bag. I asked if he wanted me to open it then, and he nodded with glee showing on his face. I grabbed the paper on the top and was struck. This kid (and his family) donated funds in my name to send an AIDS orphan to school for a year in Zambia! Wow. I have never received a more thoughtful gift; I just kept looking at the paper and looking at him, over and over again and didn't know what to say. Wow. Along with it, I unwrapped a jar of Fair Trade Organic tea [hence from my stint on Fair Trade and my constant plug with the kids] and A Long Way Gone, the book of a memoir of a boy soldier that I have spoke of in class but never completed the whole thing. Wow. What a gift. What a thoughtful gift. And he picked it out knowing me and just how deeply those things would mean to me. I am proud. Proud of my message sent to him on these issues, but proud more so of his glee in jumping on this train and passing the baton on. Wow, what a great, wonderful gift.