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12/23/13
Charles
Filed under: Kids
Posted by: @ 3:40 am

I was in America reading a British news article about a French helicopter crash that involved a Hong Kong boy that was my student in China.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/dec/21/chinese-hotelier-french-wine-entrepreneur-helicopter-crash

Charles was the student who had me wrapped around his finger.
Make that eight fingers and two thumbs.
I didn’t get upset when he left QQ wrappers in the desk.
Which he did.
And I’ll miss.
I gave him atomic fireballs and lemon heads for speaking up in class.
 

I allowed him to shoot rubber bands at the 8th graders while they gave presentations.
He was shy and the spittin’ image of his father whom I met at teacher conferences. Lam thanked me for teaching his son and chuckled at Charles’ photo-shopping of a school project.

Charles Jobs.

The ocean isn’t big enough for all of our tears. I’ll miss Charles’ comments in class, especially his desire to know everyone’s favorite color.
He was supposed to eat stinky cheese for me in Paris (he missed the weird food party we had in class since he left a day before Christmas break began).
Charles didn’t finish his novel. Why? I excused Charles and other students to play in the snow—yes snow— instead of working on their stories in class.
Good choice.
Charles made a mini snowman which he brought into my classroom.

It melted all over his desk but left a beautiful memory.
 

Life and death are one thread,
 

the same line viewed from different sides. Lao Tzu

生命和死亡是一个线程,从不同的侧面老子看同一行

2 Responses to “Charles”

  1. Susan Drone Says:
    Ginger, You’ve written so many beautiful and inspiring stories here, and in the 25 or so years that I’ve known you. This however, is definitely the most beautiful. What a wonderful tribute to Charles’s life. You were so blessed to know him. He was equally blessed to be inspired by such a loving, compassionate teacher. God bless Charles, Lam, and the rest of Charles’s family and friends. And God bless you, Ginger. Susan
  2. Martha Lester Says:
    Hi Ginger, Thank you for posting this. I taught Charles when he was in 1st and 2nd Grade. He was just learning English then and couldn’t say much, but he did work hard and also had me wrapped around his little finger along with about 3 other boys I taught Immersion English to. I am sad.

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