Yesterday, I was in the shower, blasting my shower radio & listening to the DJs stick their noses into people’s business, at said people’s request, and marvelling at the stupidity and naievete of people who think resolving personal issues via the radio is a good idea.
Suddenly, James was in the bathroom (he had left for school right before I got into the shower.) I asked him what was wrong, pulling back the shower curtain. His face looked so sad, I was bewildered & was immediately concerned that something terrible had, though I guess it wasn’t so desperate a demeanor to make me worried about the dogs. He told me that we’d had a frost, that’s what had killed the tomatoes up by the house, and – this is the bad part – it killed his giant pumpkin.
Now, as you look at words, and you maybe read about James’ desire to grow a giant pumpkin for the first time, you might chuckle. The phrase “Giant Pumpkins” is kind of funny, on its own. But my heart just broke for him, and I sent him an email mid-morning, expressing my sadness and how I wished I could fix it.
He wrote me back & told me that he was already germinating some fresh seeds, and while he was bummed, he was ready to try again. Since he’d been talking about the pumpkins with his classes, he had to tell them the bad news. One of the other fifth-grade teachers had her class make him SYMPATHY CARDS. It was so touching. Here are a few pix – the collection was touching, hilarious, and bittersweet. And as JWo put it, moments like that are exactly why he teaches, and they’re moments most of us never get in our jobs.
