the cherry jolly rancher lollipop

Yep... here I go again. But this story is seriously sweet... as sweet as cherry Jolly Rancher lollipop I was given.

I went to Kellett today as I do every Tuesday... Things went normal... a lot of chaos... but I helped the kids with their homework. Devante, a little boy that I read with twice a week last year came up to me and asked for help. I don't work with him hardly at all this year because he is in 3rd grade and is a lot more developed. The kindergarteners really need my help... unfortunately. ANYWAY, I got done helping some first graders, and Devante came over to ask for help.

Lemme tell you a little bit about how Devante looks. Imagine a 4 foot tall, chubby, pudgy, little black boy with glasses... yeah, so kinda like me... ha ha ha. Seriously, though... he always has on a big black "marshmallow man" type coat and sweats... just hobbling around, not really getting into trouble... but not really doing what he is supposed to do. But, he is a lot more intelligent than most people would notice. He really reminds me of the way my brother and I were when we were little.

Anyway, he came over to me and asked for some help with his multiplication facts that he was practicing. He was doing stuff like 1x1, 2x2, 3x3, 4x4, etc. Well, he had all of them up to 13x13. But, 12x12 and 13x13 were 24 and 26, instead of 144 and 169. He had written the problems himself and was working them out himself... SELF MOTIVATION! WOW! Since when did the kids at Kellett have self motivation?! Devante, in any case, is different from the rest of those kids. Anyway, I helped him and cleared his confusion up... I think I taught him the first little bit about multiplying one digit numbers by 2 digit numbers other that 10, 11, and 12! So, I was really proud.

So, as I got up to go leave and go to the middle school, he followed me. He took out these Yu-gi-oh coins for me to look at. I felt REALLY old, cause I asked if they were Digimon... Come ON, Hamilton... Digimon? Yeah. I was old today. Anyway, he said that they were Yu-gi-oh. I really could have cared less about what they were, but I acted interested because he thought enough to share them with me. Then, I gave them back and he reached in his pocket and said, "Here, have this." It was the cherry Jolly Rancher lollipop. Since when do kids share their candy with people?! Then, once I said I couldn't take his candy he said this, which caught me even more off guard, "No, you have it. I already have a fruit roll up." ::GASP!:: I mean, woah. Not only was he sharing, but he shared because I had none and he had an abundance... this is no ordinary 3rd grader. Then, I said, "Thank you, Devante! I will see you Thursday." And he said bye and waved as I walked out the door.

It just did my heart right. Devante and I had a connection. I made a difference for him. And whether he knows it or not, he made a difference for me too. It feels SO good to be needed. SO SO SO good. I was so full and so happy... as I am right now. More people need to be like Devante. He's a good kid.