A Broken Heart

I have kids in my class who cry over every little thing. They forgot their lunch box, someone took "their" crayon, someone looked at them funny or hurt their feelings. Jay is not a crier. In his five years, he's already acquainted with some of the difficult things in life. He was on the streets with his mom. Grandmother now has custody but mom is still homeless. I don't know all the details. He has some problems with one of his eyes. Apparently, the left eye is weaker and in an effort to strengthen it, he has to wear an eye patch on his right eye all day long. This had made his already rocky academic career go topsy-turvy. The poor little guy just can't see. Today, I passed out the school t-shirts that the parents ordered for their kids at the beginning of the year. It was a school fund raiser. Not everyone participated. Some kids were left out. Jay was among them and he cried. It was not the "my feelings are hurt" kind of tears. They were tears of real sorrow and my heart was broken all over again for this little guy. I only have 10 days left in this class. Mostly, I'll be glad to be home. I'm really going to miss Jay.