today is tuesday.
treat yo-self tuesday. want to know what i treated myself to? a pumpkin spice latte...i even splurged and added the whipped cream. and. a wonderful movie that just came out. cinderella. when i was a little girl, i fell in love with cinderella. her blond hair. her blue dress. the way she sang her way through life's ups and downs. if ever there were a literary character i wanted to emulate in word and deed, it would be cinderella. she's no elizabeth bennet. she's no scout finch. and she's certainly no mary magdalene. no, cinderella is not particularly noble or noteworthy. she's just a girl. a girl with yellow hair who likes to sing a lot. but what i've found as i've grown up is that there is quite a lot a person can learn from someone who doesn't seem important. and so, i have prepared for you what i consider to be the greatest lessons learned from the story of my favorite princess, cinderella: 1. the love of parents. i know some of the mamas give a cold shoulder to the story of cinderella because the mom is killed off right away. this is true. she does kick the pumpkin early on. but you know what remains after she's gone? her love. it encompasses cinderella in her darkest hours and the spirit of her mother is woven in the very fibers of the story. dads are not stiffed either as cinderella is one of the first daddy's girls ever written about. 2. love at first sight. i don't care who you are or how tough you claim to be-love at first sight is magic. there's nothing like it. you may not fall in love with a person. it could be a book. it could be an animal. it could be a place. heck, it could be a pumpkin spice latte on a cool autumn morning. but experiencing the joy of something new is magic. i see it each day when one of my students learns something they've never known before. the way they light up. the sparkle in their eyes. it's magic. and it's the same magic that cinderella and the prince shared the moment they met at the ball. 3. the love in forgiveness after the death of her mother followed shortly by her father, cinderella is left under the care of a broken and cruel woman. a woman who lost not one but two husbands. a woman who, strictly speaking, cannot stand cinderella. her hatred penetrates the hearts of the audience simply because she is so incredulously unkind to our innocent protagonist. and yet, despite the cruelty and pain, cinderella forgives this woman who has been nothing but awful to her. sometimes i have a hard time letting it go when someone cuts me off while driving. what cinderella teaches us is that there is power in forgiveness. a tremendous power. a freeing power. i think it's also worth noting when the forgiveness occurs. cinderella doesn't ride off with her prince, marry, pop out a few blond babies and then go back and forgive her stepmother. no, she does it immediately. as if knowing that in not forgiving someone we hold on to pain and hostility without even our own knowledge sometimes. yes, when you really think about it, how can you fully love someone if you're fostering ill-feelings for another? to forgive is not to forget. to forgive is to believe in something better. something better for everyone. not just the girl with the glass slipper. i know i'm biased about princesses. but i'm biassed about a lot of things. i love cinderella. my first and oldest princess. the girl with blond hair who liked to sing. perhaps i like that i see some of myself in her. but i think what i love most about her is what is in her that is not in me. perhaps what i love most about her are the qualities that i wish i had. the qualities that i try to have. the qualities we all try to have. kindness. compassion. courage. and a forgiving heart. tonight, i am thankful for cinderella. her kindness. her awesome shoes. her story. and all the cinderellas in my life who to teach me to love deeply and be compassionate in all things. have courage. and be kind. xo, ld (a princess in training)
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yesterday i took one of my students with me to run some errands.
you would have thought i was taking her to a ball. she was so excited. i was too. we needed some things for our classroom so it made sense to bring another member of the classroom family for support and guidance. on the drive she told me about all her wishes and dreams. she told me about who she wanted to be and all the things she wanted to do. the people she wanted to help. the blessings she wanted to bring. i listened. affirmed. and gave my two cents when needed. when we arrived at the store we rolled around on bean bags until we found the perfect pair for our classroom. when we were leaving she told me about how close to me she felt. i agreed and told her how much her friendship means to me. and the more i thought about it the more i got to thinking about the other friends i have in that same class. i don't mean friends lightly. i mean finish-your-sentences, know what you need to hear, don't judge you when you mess up and rip your pants friends. in my life i've been blessed by many friendships over the years. but the ones i have with my nuggets are particularly special. we don't share a home together. but we do share a classroom home together. and it's kind of similar when you think about it. we have to listen. we have to share. we have to deal with people getting on our nerves. we have to endure trials. and we get to experience triumphs, no matter how small. we see the good. we see the bad. and lord knows we see the ugly from time to time. and we come back every day no matter what. over the weekend i also took off the bandage i've been wearing over my cut from where the melanoma was in my arm. it's ugly. i wish i could tell you it is this beautiful reminder of the yucky stuff that was removed from my arm. but it's just ugly. and tomorrow i'll have to share that ugly with my friends. they'd never admit it, but i think they are pretty excited to see it. they've been curious about this "mysterious bandaid" since the beginning of school. "can we color it?" -no. "why didn't you ask for a minion bandaid?" -too small. as jazzed as i am to be ridding myself of the dreaded itchy bandaid i now face the reality of the scar. the pink round spot that tells me i'm not completely whole anymore. but i am healthy. and i may not feel 100 percent complete all the time but i know 13 nuggets who think i'm perfect. and that's pretty sensational. i think god shows me his love through these kids. these wild, crazy, silly, special kids. my friends. tonight as i sit with my glass of wine and my chicken noodle soup i am reminded of the ever-present blessing of my job and the 13 friends that make it all worth it. make it a great week! xo, ld |
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