This weekend I attended a memorial service for a former student. He was a great kid, but my love for him began because of his older sister. Allie came to my class as an outgoing, energetic 2nd grader. She had a smile on her face that reached to the sun. She was the peace keeper of our class. This class was made of strong personalities that wanted to control everything. There were several young ladies in the classroom that thought that everyone should do what they wanted. Allie was the go between. She kept peace. She negotiated to plan the games and activities on the playground. Allie was different from the rest in the way she related to her younger brother. One of the dominate personalities in class also had a kindergarten brother. But while Allie loved being a big sister, "Student B" seemed to hate it. While Allie couldn't wait to get home to share with Dalton what she had learned, "Student B" didn't want to talk to her brother. When the boys attended activities in our classroom, Allie scooted over to make room for Dalton in her chair. "Student B" would pout and be angry that her mother brought her little brother.
When Allie was in 2nd grade I decided to do a thematic unit on plants. I planned for weeks and prepared a lesson on seeds. One of the lessons was that the students would sort and characterize seeds in the form of nuts. We worked on the sorting, graphing, and drawing of the seeds. They I gave the students permission to eat the seeds. Allie came to my desk with half of a cashew. She informed me she didn't like nuts and didn't want to eat them. I remember smiling at her and encouraging her to try it. She bit the cashew in half and ate it. She became ill. Her breathing became labored. Her coloring was off. I knew immediately that this was serious. I called her mother and stayed with her in the hallway while we waited. Her mother came and decided it was her sinus allergies. She gave her some cold medicine and watched her for a few minutes. Because of the time of day, her mother decided to go ahead and take her home. On her way home, Allie quit breathing. It turned out that Allie was allergic to nuts. No one knew. The next day Allie's mother showed up to school with an EPI pen and a hug. She thanked me for taking care of her daughter. I was in shock...here I had almost killed a woman's child, and she hugged and thanked me. Allie's mother has become one of my most special friends over the years.
Allie now faces life not being what she is so good at doing. She is no longer the big sister that offers advice and knowledge to her little brother. She no longer plays the part of protector. This phase in Allie's life is over, but God has a plan in place for her next phase. I feel blessed to have been a part of the Allie as a big sister phase. I can't wait to see what the future has for Allie.
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