Caitlin, that’s what I called her in previous posts, the one who gave me a hug before lunch, that one. She stayed after school to catch up on work she had missed while attending wake and funeral services for her next door neighbor, a 16 year old kid that fell off a cliff while hiking. I took my laptop and sat next to her, working on an article from the community paper and helping her form her social studies report. She finished early and while we were waiting for it to print, she sat back and said “Today was really bad. REALLY BAD.”

I stopped typing and said,”Oh, you have no idea. It hurts my feelings to have people treat me that way. Especially since I really don’t think that I am mean. I really care about all of you, you know?”

I paused for a minute. “But was I mean today? Am I just kidding myself and thinking I’m nice because I’m an adult?”

Caitlin shook her head. “Mrs S, you are NOT mean. I don’t know why they do that. It messes up the whole day.”

Then we talked about her friend dying.

“You know, I’ve been to too many funerals for friends. It’s not a fun time. I was in COLLEGE and couldn’t go for two weeks because I was so sad, and it’s hard to think about anything else. Isn’t it?”

Her eyes got big. “It was my first funeral.”

“Was it open casket?” She nodded. “And it didn’t look like your friend in there, did it?”

“No, you could see scratches on his face. I wish I didn’t even look at him.”

“I can still remember what my friend was wearing. And how much he DIDN’T look like himself.”

We talked about that for a few minutes, and her mom showed up to pick her up.

“Thanks for letting me stay, Mrs. S.”

“Well, thanks for making my day better. I appreciated the hug and reassurance that I am NOT as mean as some people say.”

She smiled and walked out the door.