Pomp and Circumstance in Miniature

Anyone who knows Xanthe has heard that her favorite person is Teacher Jen. She's potty trained because of Teacher Jen. She goes to bed at night to make Teacher Jen happy. Whenevershe feels like being naughty, I remind her how disappointed Teacher Jen would be if she did something wrong. We all adore Teacher Jen.

Last week, Xanthe's beloved teacher was diagnosed with leukemia. Everyone is stunned and heartbroken to hear that such a wonderful person has this road ahead of her. They think it's treatable, and Jen has a lot of prayers coming her way, and a lot of support. Thursday was preschool graduation. There was a lot of emotion in the air, which translated into Xanthe bursting into tears at the beginning of the ceremony and turning into an appendage of my leg for the duration of the program. She did manage to shuffle over to Teacher Jen with her head down and me by her side to receive her hat and certificate. She sat on my lap while the other kids sang songs and posed for cameras.

After it was all over, in the car, she said, "I'm ready to be good at school." She was not happy that it was over and tried to tell me that it had been too short by saying, "It wasn't three minutes or five minutes. It was one minute!" I wish preschool could last all summer, too. We wish Teacher Jen a healing summer and renewed energy by fall. Thank you to Jen for shaping Xanthe for good, forever.