At Least I Waited Until I Got Home...

Early this year the principal came in and asked me to please get my ESL (English as a Second Language) Endorsement. I refused based on the fact that I'd heard many of my collegues over the last few years complain about how time consuming it was. After my year last year, dad passing away, court case with Mark's former spouse, etc... I just wanted a simpler year. Well, he told me they changed the format, that the colleges were no longer involved and that it would take less time. I relented and have had this class nearly every Monday night since school started. I'm down to just three more sections! Woohooo!

Anyway, last week the instructor showed this amazing video of a beautiful Chinese boy experiencing his first day of school in America. With all the hope of a new life, his parents work at a resteraunt late into the night. His mother comes home at 1:00 AM and leaves a shoe box and a card on his bedroom floor. He's pretending to be asleep. After his parents go to bed he gets out of bed, reads the note, puts on the bright yellow tennis shoes and crawls back into bed. He gets up in the morning and makes his own breakfast, walks himself to school and then experiences a really sad day because he doesn't understand English. I can barely type the story here without bringing up all the emotion that little film found inside my heart... I got teary during class but managed to contain the flow to only a few that trickled down each cheek. I really wanted to run out of there and find every sad and lonely child and bring them home to my house...

When I got home, I shared the story with Mark... there is a lot more detail than I'm including here. As I told Mark the story, I sobbed. In fact, I cried so hard I gave myself the suck-ups. At least I waited until I got home. I don't know if you can find a copy of this film to view... it was made for educational purposes and is more expensive than a normal video. If possible, it is so very worth the effort and the time because the application is so much more than the original intent! If you do find a copy... maybe you'd better wait until you get home to watch it... truly touching!