Friends

I have had Ethan home from school the past few days because of illness in his classroom.  He has been ok and I just don't want to run the risk of him getting the flu- which Ms. Mary may have.

I took Ethan over to his previous school for a visit.  Oh, how we miss it.  It was like a visit home.  He was able to see his favorite custodians, favorite secretary, favorite principal, favorite teachers, and mostly- his friends. 

No, these kids don't call him, but if you could see the looks on their faces when they saw Ethan at their school again.  It was like a kid at Christmas!  All of them say that school just isn't the same without him.  We saw other kids- kids that I don't know- signing in ESL (Ethan sign language) "hello".  THEY REMEMBER!  A lot of these kids haven't seen Ethan since June and they remembered how to say hello to him!  My heart about melted.

One moment that really stuck with me...

We were in a classroom and a boy that knew Ethan from last year told a boy who didn't know who Ethan was that Ethan didn't talk.  Then the "new" boy asked me why he didn't talk.  I said that he just talks with his hands since it is harder for him to use his voice.  Then, a little girl sitting at the table didn't even skip a beat when she said, "He just does things a little different.  We are all different and that's ok.  He just uses sign language." 

 How completely precious is that?  How wonderful that this little girl, 7 years old, sees it and she gets it.  We are all different in one way or another.  But, we are also more alike than different.