It was Christmas years ago. My likable teenaged student with special needs, I’ll call Hank, was one of seventeen children. His tennis shoes were tattered and worn. A decision was made that Christmas. I bought him some new tennis shoes and he was thoroughly delighted and thanked me.
I enjoyed watching Hank walk to class now proud of his new shoes for the rest of the year. Hank always had a smile on his face. On one of our last days of school Hank walked into class with the shoes I had given him in the same box they came in. “I got new shoes,” he said. ” Thank you.” There were new shoes on his feet and the ever present smile on his face.
“Oh please keep them, they were a gift from me to you!”
I never saw Hank again since he moved when school was over. He did write me a letter the next year and I wrote him back. Years later I keep the tradition going of giving to children in need for Christmas.
I’ll never forget the joy on Hanks’ face when he knew he had two pairs of shoes to wear or the sincerity of his thank you. You see all my students are still with me. Every one of them angels on the writers’ shoulders.