A Hug from a Teenage Boy

Nancy Noel Marra

Fifteen years spend in the field of education have provided me with many treasured moments. One of the most endearing happened when I was teaching second grade,10 years ago.

In May of the fourth quarter, I decided to plan something special for the children: a Mother’s Day tea. We put our heads together to come up with ideas of how to honor our mothers. We practiced singing and singing songs. We memorized a poem. We made sand candles and wrapped in hand-stenciled, white papers bags tied with pretty ribbons. We wrote and decorated individual Mother Day cards.

We decided to hold our tea the Friday before Mother’s Day. Each child took home an invitation with an RSVP at the bottom. I was surprised and relieved to see that every mother was planning to attend. I even invited my own mother.

Finally, the big day arrived. At 1:45 that afternoon, each child lined up at our classroom door in anticipation of the arrival of his or her mom. As it got closer to starting time, I looked around and my eyes quickly found Jimmy. His mother hadn’t shown up and he was looking stricken.

I took my mother by the hand and walked over to Jimmy. “Jimmy,” I said, “I have a bit of a problem here and I was wondering if you could help me 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.”

My mom and Jimmy sat at a table with other mother/child teams. Jimmy served my mom her treats, presented her with the gift I had made, and poured out and pulled in her chair, just as we had practiced the day before. Whenever I looked over, my mother and Jimmy were in deep conversation.

I tucked that special memory away. Now, 10 years later, I work with students of all ages, educating them about environment. Last year, I was at a high school to take a senior class on a field trip, and there was Jimmy.

We spent the day in the badlands of Montana. On the way back, I had the students complete an outline of the day’s events, a short test and an evaluation of our trip. As I collected the students’ booklets, I checked them to see that everything was complete.

When I came to Jimmy’s evaluation page, he had written, “Remember our Mother Day’s tea we had in second grade, Mrs. Marra? I do! Thanks for all you did for me and thank you for your mother, too.”

As we began unloading at the school, Jimmy made sure he was the last one to go. I told him I really enjoyed what he had written. He looked rather embarrassed, mumbled his own thanks, and then turned to walk away. As my bus driver began pulling away from the curb, Jimmy ran back and knocked on the bus door. I thought he had forgotten something. He jumped back on board and gave me a big hug. “Thanks again, Mrs. Marra. No one even knew my mom didn't make it!”

I ended my work day with a hug from teenage boy who had probably stopped hugging teachers years ago.

十五年的教学生涯给我留下了许多美好时刻。而最让我难忘的是十年前的那一刻，那时我所教的是二年级。

在五月的第四周，我想给孩子们准备一个特别的节目：母亲节茶会。我们集思广义，想以多种方式来感激我们的母亲。我们一遍遍的排练着要唱的歌，朗诵着要表演的那一首诗。我们做了一些沙滩焟烛，用手绘纸包装好并扎上了漂亮的彩带作为母亲的礼物。我们还为自己母亲制作好贺卡并写上了自己的祝福。

我们决定在星期五，母亲节的前一天举行我们的茶会。每个孩子都带了一张底部印有敬请回复的请帖给他们的母亲。让我感到既吃惊又高兴的是，每个孩子的母亲都回复准备参加我们的茶会。为此我也邀请我的母亲来参加这个活动。

这一天终于来临了。下午1：45，每个孩子都在教室门口列队期待着他们母亲的光临。快到茶会开始的时间了，我环顾了下四周，很快发现了杰米。他看起来很焦虑，因为他的母亲还没有出现。

我挽着母亲的手走到了杰米身边。“杰米，”我对他说，“我遇到了一点小麻烦，我想你是否能给我帮点忙。我马上要忙着主持茶会，安排歌曲演唱和诗歌朗诵，以及不时为大家添茶倒水，我想在我忙碌的时候，你应该愿意帮我陪陪我的母亲。你可以给我的母亲倒点茶，拿点甜点，在恰当的时候，为她送上我自制的焟烛。”

母亲和杰米与其它两对母子坐在一桌。杰米用心的照顾着我的母亲，就如前一天我们所预演的一样，他为我母亲送上我自制的礼物，为她拉开并放回椅子。无论何时我看到他们，母亲和杰米都在开心地聊着天。

我珍藏着这特别而美好的回忆。如今，十年过去了，我接触了不同年龄段的孩子，我给他们传授自然环境知识。去年，我带一个高中班的学生去实地考查，杰米也在其内。

我们在蒙大纳洲的荒原上考查了一天。回来的路上，我布置学生把今天活动的主要内容写出来，这些问题也是对这次考查效果的一个简单测试。我一边收集他们的作业本，一边检查他们作业完成情况。

当查到杰米的作业时，我看到他是这样写的，“马拉老师，还记得我们二年级时的母亲节茶会吗？我一直铭记于心！真心感谢您和你的母亲为我所做的一切。”

到了学校，我们都开始下车了，杰米留到了最后一个离开，我告诉他我很喜欢他的留言。他反而感到有点不好意思，含糊不清的再次表示着他的感谢，然后就转身离开了。

在我的公车司机发动车子，就要离开的时候，杰米又跑了回来敲着车门，我还以为他是忘记什么东西了。他一跳上车，就给了我一深深的拥抱。“马拉老师，真的很谢谢你，没有一个人知道我母亲的缺席！”

这个男孩子可能很多年前就再也没有拥抱过老师了，而我却在他的拥抱中结束了一天的工作。