Yesterday was a pretty good day at Olathe Elementary and the time flew by us as we kept more than busy in our fourth grade classroom. Finally at long last we finished the book we've been reading called "Out of the Dust". It was a great story that we really enjoyed reading and listening to. Set in the years 1920-1935, it tells of the life of a young girl named Billie Jo and the trials and tribulations of growing up during not only the Great Depression but the Dust Bowl days in the great state of Oklahoma as well. Her story is a sad one, filled with the many "crosses" that she had to bear. From being born one August day in 1920 right there on the kitchen floor to parents who were wishing for a son rather than a daughter, to accidentally catching her pregnant mother afire and two days later losing both her mother and newborn brother because of it, to life afterwards with a father she had difficulty communicating with and the hardship of living in the Panhandle area of Oklahoma during the Dust Bowl, hey this kid went through a lot. It was interesting to watch my students' reactions as I read to them and to answer (or at least try to) their questions of what was happening in the story. Reading this great piece of literature opened up a lot of other opportunities for learning as they begged to know more about the time of the Dust Bowl and how people survived it. So for the last month, we have learned more than I originally hoped for and I could not have been happier. The story ended up having a decently happy ending and I'd highly recommend it to anyone out there looking for a great read thus providing my shameless plug for Karen Hesse's 1997 Newberry Award winning book. It's one of those books a person could read again and again.
At the end of the book, Billie Jo paused a moment to give thanks for the way life ended up turning out for her. She was finally able to forgive herself for accidentally throwing a pail of burning kerosene out the door just as her 9-months pregnant mother came around the corner. She was able to begin to look at her own burned and scarred hands from that same moment in time, not as useless appendages but rather as extensions of her own mother's life as she struggled to begin to play her beloved piano once more. And as Billie Jo found herself beginning to move "Out of the Dust" she found a renewed since of spirit and life for which she gave many thanks. Her "Thanksgiving list" that named the simple things of her life for which she was grateful was very heart warming to read.
I would never pretend to have gone through half of what this young girl did, even though my life has been at times quite tumultuous. Her list of things she was happy for contained the simple stuff~that the dust would go away each day, that her her now crippled hands could once again play the notes of the piano's music, that finally she could be at peace with her life and find happiness everlasting. As for me, I'm just glad that I chose to read the book to them. They loved it and it was one of the first times I remember reading a book to children where, upon reading the very last page to them, they wished it would continue on. They waited for me to return it to our school library and then each of them began the "mad race" to try and check it out after school. Several wanted to reread it on their own and to that I say a huge AMEN!
I have read with interest many of the posts on my friends' Facebook pages that tell of what they are thankful for each day. Time and time again, they don't mention the expensive stuff that we try to accumulate in this life but rather they mention the things that all the money in the world can never buy. You know what I speak of here because everyone of you holds in your heart the same treasures that I do. Our family and loved ones, friends and health, jobs and shelter are things we hold very tight to. Nice cars, expensive technology and the latest of cell phone gadgets come and go and that's a fact. The best things of this life don't come with a price tag and can never be found as you shop online or visit a fancy department store. I want those "best" of gifts for myself and I'm sure you would agree.
Today at school I am going to ask the kids to come up with their own list of "Thanksgiving" similar to the one that Billie Jo wrote in the last pages of "Out of the Dust". It will be interesting to read their ideas and see what it is that they themselves are truly thankful for. I'm going to be modelling the idea for them on the board with my own list of ideas and when I do, I know what it will look like. Your name will be on my list and I'm gonna have to write "tiny" to get you all on there, but don't worry because I will :)
In everything, each day of the year through the good and the bad, please remember to give thanks. Take care of one another today and stick together, just like glue. Geesch, it's already the 8th day of November and a great day to be alive in. Rejoice and give thanks!
The teacher that I still am today.
Just a little farther down the road from Kansas, across the big mountain and on the "other side.
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