(no subject)

Pooper48(AT)aol.com
Sat, 20 Mar 1999 13:45:17 EST

Jeremy was born with a twisted body, a slow mind and a
chronic, terminal illness that had been slowly killing him all
his young life. Still his parents had tried to give him as normal a life as
possible and had sent him to St. Theresa's Elementary School. At the age of
12, Jeremy was only in second grade, seemingly unable to learn. His
teacher, Doris Miller, often became exasperated with him. He would squirm in
his seat,drool and make grunting noises. At other times, he spoke clearly
and distinctly, as if a spot of light had penetrated the darkness of his
brain. Most of the time, however, Jeremy irritated his teacher. One day,
she called his parents and asked them to come to St. Theresa's for a
consultation. As the Forresters sat quietly in the empty classroom, Doris
said to them, "Jeremy really belongs in a special school. It isn't fair to
him to be with younger children who don't have learning problems. Why, there
is a five-year gap between his age and that of the other students!" Mrs.
Forrester cried softly into a tissue while her husband spoke. "Miss Miller,"
he said,
"there is no school of that kind nearby. It would be a terrible shock
for Jeremy if we had to take him out of this school. We know he really
likes it here." Doris sat for a long time after they left, staring at the
snow
outside the window. Its coldness seemed to seep into her soul. She
wanted to sympathize with the Forresters. After all, their only child had a
terminal illness. But it wasn't fair to keep him in her class. She had 18
other youngsters to teach and Jeremy was a distraction.
Furthermore, he would never learn to read or write. Why waste any more
time trying? As she pondered the situation, guilt washed over her. "Oh
God," she said aloud, "here I am complaining when my problems are nothing
compared with that poor family! Please help me to be more patient with
Jeremy." From that day on,she tried to ignore Jeremy's noises and his blank
stares. Then one day he limped to her desk, dragging his bad leg behind him.
"I
love you, Miss Miller," he exclaimed loudly enough for the whole class
to hear. The other children snickered, and Doris's face turned red. She
stammered, "Wh-Why, that's very nice, Jeremy. Now please take your seat."

Spring came, and the children talked excitedly about the coming of Easter.
Doris told them of the story of Jesus, and then to emphasize the idea of
new life springing forth, she gave each of the children a large plastic
egg. "Now," she said to them, "I want you to take this home and bring it
back tomorrow with something inside that shows new life. Do you
understand?" "Yes, Miss Miller!" the children responded enthusiastically -all
except for Jeremy. He just listened intently, his eyes never left her face.
He did not even make his usual noises. Had he understood what she had said
about Jesus' death and resurrection? Did he understand the assignment?
Perhaps she should call his parents and explain the project to them. That
evening, Doris's kitchensink stopped up. She called the landlord and waited an
hour for him to come by and unclog it. After that, she still had to shop for
groceries, iron a blouse and prepare a vocabulary test for the next day.
She completely forgot about phoning Jeremy's parents. The next
morning, 19 children came to school, laughing and talking as they placed their
eggs in the large wicker basket on Miss Miller's desk. After they
completed their Math lesson, it was time to open the eggs. In the first egg,
Doris found a flower. "Oh yes, a flower is certainly a sign of new
life," she said. "When plants peek through the ground we know that spring is
here." A small girl in the first row waved her arms. "That's my egg, Miss
Miller," she called out. The next egg contained a plastic butterfly, which
looked very real. Doris held it up, "We all know that a caterpillar
changes and grows into a beautiful butterfly. Yes that is new life, too."
Little
Judy smiled proudly and said, "Miss Miller, that one is mine." Next, Doris
found a rock with moss on it. She explained that the moss, too, showed
life. Billy spoke up from the back of the classroom. "My Daddy helped me!"
he beamed. Then Doris opened the fourth egg. She gasped. The egg was empty!
Surely it must be Jeremy's she thought, and of course, he did not
understand her instructions. If only she had not forgotten to phone
his parents. Because she did not want to embarrass him, she quietly set the
egg aside and reached for another. Suddenly Jeremy spoke up."Miss Miller,
aren't you going to talk about my egg?" Flustered, Doris replied, "but Jeremy,
your egg
is empty!" He looked into her eyes and said softly, "Yes, but Jesus' tomb
was empty too!" Time stopped. When she could speak again, Doris asked him,
"Do you know why the tomb was empty?" "Oh yes!" Jeremy exclaimed. "Jesus was
killed and put in there. Then His Father raised Him up!" The recess bell
rang. While the children excitedly ran out to the school yard, Doris
cried. The cold inside her melted completely away. Three months later Jeremy
died. Those who paid their respects at the mortuary were surprised to see 19
eggs on top of his casket, all of them empty.