obstacles

Yesterday, baseball players from the Brewers came to visit my classroom. They shared their obstacles and encouraged my students to overcome obstacles. To prepare my students for this visit I had them write about their own personal obstacles. I asked a few of my students to share. All the stories they had broke my heart a little bit. One girl's story in particular, left me heavy and humbled. She wrote about her grandmother's death, "When my grandmother died it was sudden and everyone in my family fell apart. My mom stopped acting like herself and my sister's stopped taking care of me and themselves. Everyone in my family became depressed so I remained strong. I kept my mom and sisters' spirits alive and remained strong for them. I worried all the while that they would not snap out of it but I knew I had to stay strong for them. And they got better." As she finished her story she was crying silently, and the room fell silent and still. She is 13. To carry the weight of depression for not one person but an entire family is a feat I cannot fathom fulfilling. To be so selfless in such a selfish world is a gift. I am humbled by my student's strengths and dignity in situations they did not ask for or deserve.