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Fifteen years spent in the field of education have provided Nancy
Marra with many treasured moments. One of the most endearing
happened when she was teaching second grade.
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That year, she decided to plan something special for the children:
a Mother's Day tea. Nancy and the children came up with ideas of
how to honor their mothers. They practiced singing songs. They
memorized a poem. They made sand candles and wrapped the candles in
hand-stenciled, white paper bags tied with pretty ribbons. They
wrote and decorated individual Mother's Day cards.
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They decided to hold their tea the Friday before Mother's Day. Each
child took home an invitation with an RSVP at the bottom. Nancy was
surprised and relieved to see that every mother was planning to
attend. She even invited her own mother.
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Finally, the day arrived. That afternoon, each child lined up at
the classroom door in anticipation of the arrival of his or her
mom. As it got closer to starting time, Nancy looked around and her
eyes quickly found Jimmy. His mother hadn't shown up and he was
looking stricken.
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Nancy took her mother by the hand and walked over to Jimmy.
"Jimmy," Nancy said, "I have a bit of a problem here and I was
wondering if you could help out. I'm going to be really busy
introducing our songs and our poem and pouring the punch. I was
wondering if you could maybe keep my mother company while I'm busy.
You could get her punch and cookies, and give her the candle I made
when it's time."
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Nancy's mom and Jimmy sat at a table with two other mother/child
pairs. Jimmy served Nancy's mom her treats, presented her with the
gift Nancy had made, and pulled out and pushed in her chair, just
as they had practiced the day before. Whenever Nancy looked over,
her mom and Jimmy were in deep conversation.
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Ten years later, Nancy worked with students of all ages, educating
them about the environment. This year, she was at a high school to
take a senior class on a field trip, and there was Jimmy.
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On the way back, Nancy had the students complete an outline of the
day's events, a short test and an evaluation of their trip. As she
collected the student booklets, she checked them to see that
everything was complete.
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When she came to Jimmy's evaluation page, he had written, "Remember
our Mother's Day tea we had in second grade, Mrs. Marra? I do!
Thanks for all you did for me, and thank your mother, too."
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As they began unloading at the school, Jimmy made sure he was the
last one to go. Nancy told him she really enjoyed what he had
written. He looked rather embarrassed, mumbled his own thanks, and
then turned to walk away. As the bus driver began pulling away from
the curb, Jimmy ran back and knocked on the bus door. Nancy thought
he had forgotten something. Jimmy jumped back on board and gave her
a big hug. "Thanks again, Mrs. Marra. No one even knew my mom
didn't make it that day!"
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