Thoughtful Former Students

The R girls - some of my all time favorite students. Both were in the 2/3 my first year at Hershey, and both moved up to the 4/5. Lucky me - three years with these sisters.

(When I first met them, Merry, the 2nd grader announced, "I can be grumpy!" when I asked her to tell me about herself. "Oh, surely not!" I said, looking down at that sweet little face. I turned to look at her  older sister, Madeline, who had raised her eyebrows and was nodding sagely. "Oh, yes, she can!" she declared. But, in all our years together, I never, ever saw Merry grumpy.)

Merry sent me an email Thursday night. "Look around your door in the morning - elves came!" They sure had - those "elves" had decorated my classroom door! When? My guess was the previous evening during the Hershey Choir party. The girls' brother is still at Hershey and sings in the choir.

 Shades of many years ago when those girls helped our class make 1,000 paper cranes!

 Merry and Madeline made four out of gum wrappers. (So, the two of them and their parents all must've been chewing gum while their brother sang.)

 Two were on my Zeus welcome plaque. The larger crane says, "I miss you, Mrs. I. Love, Meredith."

Another two, also made out of the program from the evening were on my mailbox. "We flew high with Mrs. I...  Madeline" is written on the larger one.

Is it any wonder that I love these girls? Rather, these young women who are in 8th and 9th grade and yet still check in occasionally?