Miss C's Essay

Our young Miss C phoned me last night and asked if she could run over here for a few minutes. She wanted to show me the essay that she's entering in a school-wide essay contest sponsored by the Coca-Cola Company.

I have a copy of her essay here, and I'm going to re-type the whole thing here, word for word. Needless to say, I was amazed, overwhelmed, and sat there last night with tears in my eyes as I read what C wrote:


"On a quiet calm day in my English class, my teacher Ms. B informed us that there was a writing contest with prizes involved. Everyone looked extremely excited and demanded for the prompt. In a sweet and calm voice our teacher said "Who speaks for or inspires your generation and what are they saying?" All at once I could hear "I'm going to write about Hannah Montana." "I'm going to write about Jessica Simpson. " "Ricky Martin is a sure winner."

"While everyone was trying to outdo each other with pop stars and celebrities, I knew just who I was going to write about. This person is neither a pop star nor celebrity but has a heart of gold which is way more important than anything else.

"I first met Miss Larrie when I was in second grade. I didn't know her name but I always saw her gracefully walking down the halls with a book. She would come into my classroom on certain days and help kids that had trouble reading. She would always enter the room with a smile, her glasses, and a beautiful assortment of books to read, which always caused me to smile no matter what mood I was in.

"I never got the chance to read with her at the beginning of the year because there were kids whose reading was worse than mine, so it wasn't until the middle of the year that I lucked out. The kid who had trouble reading moved away and I was able to ask the teacher if I could go and read with her.

"The next day without fail, Miss Larrie came into the class and asked who she was going to be reading with. Before the teacher could point me out, I was at her feet like a little puppy dog begging for attention. As we walked to the library she said "Call me Miss Larrie because Mrs. B--------- is too hard to say." When we sat down at the table she opened her book and some wearied feeling came over me, a feeling of mystery maybe, but a good kind. It impressed me, every time I stumbled upon a word that I didn't know, she never got frustrated with me and she never stopped smiling. As time went on we became closer, and during our reading breaks, we would ask each other questions about our favorite animal, favorite book, favorite this, favorite that, until there seemed like there were no more questions left in the world.

"When the last day of school came around, I wasn't happy like the rest of the kids. I wanted to stay and read with Miss Larrie. Lucky for me, Miss Larrie suggested that we still read over the summer, and we could also go out for lunch and hang out. This got me excited so every Friday, we would go out to a small cozy Greek cafe or a Chinese buffet for lunch, and then back to Miss Larrie's house to read. The first time I was at her house I felt like I was in a tiny castle because of all the antiques and pretty pictures. We never ran out of books and sometimes she would let me keep them. We would read one whole book every Friday and eat pineapple ice cream until my stomach was about to explode. Miss Larrie would take tiny little mouse bites at a time.

"As time went on we hung out more and more and started doing everything together. We went to plays, the museum, Moody Gardens, the Houston Zoo, and even small things like grocery shopping, which Miss Larrie never likes doing, so I always keep her company. Our favorite thing to do together is going to garage sales. We always find things and when we get back to her house we have even more fun finding a place to put them.

"Before I knew it, I was helping her with the Pajama Program, which is a nonprofit organization that gives less fortunate children pajamas. She is the president of the Houston chapter and has now collected 4,500 pairs of pajamas and brings them to places from Clear Lake to Lake Livingston. For her birthday this year, all she asked for was pajamas for the kids and nothing for herself. To me that takes a very special person to do that and I admire her so much.

"You can still find Miss Larrie the same way today, with a book in her hand, glasses (which are the new ones that I picked out), and most important, a great big smile. She is one of my best friends that I could ever have. Miss Larrie isn't a celebrity or a pop star, but she inspires people to do good things in life and always does her best for everyone."


---- I typed C's essay word for word, and now, after re-reading all of her paragraphs up there, I am once again overwhelmed at her writing. Just the sweetness of her memories of all the years we've been special friends is very heart-warming. And to think that she remembers all the little things, like the pineapple ice cream, picking out new eyeglasses, and going to the little Greek restaurant for lunch.

Maya Angelou once said that children respond the most to the person in their lives whose eyes light up when they see that child. Children want to know that they are loved, that they are wanted, that they are appreciated, that they are seen. Years before I heard those words from Maya Angelou, I always remembered the look in my Aunt Dolly's eyes when I would walk into my grandmother's house. Aunt Dolly's eyes would light up whenever she saw her nieces and nephews--- and I have to say, the better-behaved you were, the brighter the light would be in her eyes. As I got older, I made it a point to always do that for any of the children I knew--- to keep my eyes bright and my smile happy, no matter what was going on in my own life.

I wish all parents knew that little secret of Maya Angelou's ---- keep your eyes bright and happy when you look at your children, and be ready to open your arms and hug them. As Miss Frankie always said: "Everyone needs a hug, especially those who think they don't want one."

Miss C will be 17 this week. We will be celebrating her birthday with her as soon as her parents figure out a day when we can take her out for dinner. I had asked C if she wanted to invite a friend to come with us for her birthday dinner, but she wants the dinner to be "just the three of us." She likes it that way, she said.