Goodbyes

I said goodbye to a lot of people today, but the one that's catching in my throat is Esperanza. I'm happy to say that she has been promoted to 5th grade. All my kids were, in the end. After school we went and sat on the bench together and she put her arms around me and laid her head on my shoulder and just held on for awhile. I love that girl so much. I hope she makes it out into the world and has the best of lives. They say there's one every year who is just yours, somehow. Espi was mine. I hope I have a daughter someday, and I hope she's at least a little like Esperanza.

It's over.

Today was the last day of school for the students. It was all just a whirlwind for me. All last night I was up with a dying kitten. She didn't make it and it was a pretty painful, horrible death. My students knew I had a kitten who was sick. When I came into school this morning a little teary-eyed, my kiddos figured out what had happened and some of them started crying in sympathy. They wrote me little "cheer up" type notes on the sly. They are such great kids, and I will miss them all so much.