How One Learns Life's Lessons

Or not...

Published on November 18, 2004 By oleteach In Home & Family

There are many great memories from those days spent in Oakes. The people were so great. They always supported the teachers in dealing with the children. To this day I still have many of those students who keep in touch with me on a regular basis.

Of the many good people I remember, one little fellow, Billy, holds a spot in my heart.. He was small for his age but he had a huge heart and brain. He absorbed learning like a super dried-up sponge. I remember he volunteered to memorize a very long poem, The Leak in the Dike for a program for parents. http://www.poetry-archive.com/c/the_leak_in_the_dike.html He learned it in no time at all and when he finished reciting it at the program, there was not a dry eye in the house.

He was an altar boy and served with so much dignity when it was his turn to be a server at Mass. One morning he was alone in serving, as the other boy did not show up. When it came time to change the big book of the Scripture from one side of the altar to the other, (That was a practice in the old days before Vatican II) he bravely reached up high to the altar and picked up the heavy book together with its heavy wooden holder. As Billy began to bring it down and toward himself, the book fell on his upturned face. Father McDonand was deep in prayer readying himself to read the Gospel. He failed to notice the boy struggling to find some way to get his job done. Billy was completely immobilized and blind with the weight of the book on his face. As we watched, we could see the red of embarrassment rise from his neck on up. There were not many people present but all those who were there, were overcome with the intense need to chuckle and even to laugh even as several men started toward the sanctuary to help him. Finally, Father noticed the boy’s dilemma and came to his rescue and lifted the Book to its proper place.

Later, Billy told me that he didn’t feel too bad about what happened until he looked out and saw so many people trying to contain their laughter. I had to admit to him that I was sorry but that I was one of them. He grinned and said, “You were the first person I looked at and I saw that you were laughing so hard the tears were running down your cheeks. You better do some penance for that!” He had a great sense of humor besides all of his other great qualities.

I could not keep Billy supplied with enough material to satisfy his hungry mind. I asked his parents just before the Christmas holiday, if they thought it would be good if he advanced to the next grade. At first they were a little leery because of his size, but finally they decided to give it a try. During Christmas vacation he studied all the material that the next class had covered during the first of the year. By January he was ready and he had no trouble keeping up with his new class. I learned that he became a very successful lawyer but that he died of cancer at a very early age.

Another great boy, Dave, is often in my memories too. This boy loved school too, but he had such a hard time with Math. Try as he might, he just couldn’t seem to learn the multiplication tables. His classmates took turns helping him but he often became very discouraged.

One weekend, this boy was riding in the family car with his older brother. They were on a gravel road and the car overturned. Dave was killed outright. On Monday morning I met my class in deep mourning. This was the first student that I had ever lost through death. It was so hard to counsel the children though most of them had parents who knew how to approach tragedy from a faith outlook. While we discussed how much we would miss Dave, one child raised his hand and said, “Now, Dave will know all of his multiplication tables without any trouble. He knows a whole lot of things that we will have to learn the hard way.” This response brought a smile to everyone’s face and hope to their young, learning hearts.

My students were not always angels. They did get into trouble from time to time. One example of this came one night after classes had been dismissed. Several girls and boys were playing outdoors, waiting for their parents to pick them up. One or two of them got the bright idea of throwing pebbles at the cars that were passing by the school. I don’t know how many motorists they angered but one lady came into my classroom holding on to the ears of two mischief makers she had caught in the act.

She was furious as she exploded into my room shouting, “Are these two brats your student?” Well, that was definitely the wrong tack to take with me.

As calmly as I could, I asked her to release her hold on the two children. Then I told her that these two children were indeed my students but that they were certainly not brats. She calmed down and I let her explain why she was so angry.

She said, “I am just passing through your town. I am shocked to find such behavior from students who attend a Catholic school. I have never come across this kind of behavior in my hometown of St. Paul.” (“Oh, really?” I thought).

After hearing her story, I assured her that I would see to it that they were adequately and justly punished. I thanked her for calling their misdeed to my attention. The lady left in a much quieter mood than she had entered. I took care of the students in my own way and they assured me they would never do anything like that again.

The next day I told the students how wrong it was to damage other people’s property in any way. I asked one of the offenders if they would like to share their story with the others so that all could learn from it.

The braver of the two got up and said, “You should have heard Sister stick up for us when a lady called us brats!” All the students cheered. Just then, there was a loud knock on the door. Everyone became suddenly very silent. The person who had just delivered the speech with the conclusion about what was really important about the pebble incident said, “Wow, what if that is her at the door?”

I went to the door and sure enough there she was, standing with two big buckets of ice cream, paper plates, spoons and cookies. She said that she wanted to apologize for calling the children names. I invited her in and she treated all the children with her goodies.

After she left, I asked the children what they had learned from this incident. One impish young boy whispered, “Get more pebbles and watch for rich ladies’ cars!”

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Comments

chiprj

on Nov 19, 2004

What a great installment to your story! I love this one. You have truly been blessed by the people that have made contact with your life. I often think about how much happiness I have gained from the people that have come into my life. You are definetely on that list, as your stories have filled me with memories, joy, and laughter. Thank you.

oleteach

on Nov 19, 2004

Thanks again, Chiprj, if we can always count our blessings it would make life so much more pleasant. God bless you.

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