A Letter to My Readers

Hello! Happy September ~ and a belated Welcome Back to School. When I was a teacher I often kicked off the year with a letter introducing myself to my students and encouraging them to write back. I wanted to know their hopes for the coming year and give them the opportunity to share with me something about themselves that would help me to see them as more than the sum of their grades. Their letters came back with stories of dogs and baseball, of dancing lessons, of dungeons and dragons. 

This year, with the world being as chaotic as it's become, I wondered what my students would write about if I were still a classroom teacher. Dungeons and Dragons? Dogs and baseball? Dancing lessons? Or is the outside world crashing into the boundaries of middle school life?

The outside world is certainly crashing into my writing life. I worry about my children, my grandchild, my readers. When I was a teacher I could close the door and create a space where kindness was the rule and thoughtful acts were often rewarded with a flying twizzler. We called these thoughtful moments— from picking up a fallen pencil to making room for someone in the lunchroom— twizzler moments. The school year was full of them, many of which were pointed out by the students themselves. 

There is beauty in the world outside the window where I write. Birds will be returning to the feeder soon; my dog, Finnegan curls on the rug beside me (or sometimes, under my arm), and tucked inside the words I write, there is hope and love, so much love for this suffering planet.  Still, I don't think there's a door strong enough to keep out the real world.  There aren't many twizzler moments in the great space outside. I'm shocked and disheartened by the cruelty of adults who should be modeling kindness and compassion. I worry about young people who are exposed to this loosening of respect and lack of empathy for others. I want to remind them  that goodness still exists. 

My young reader, should you find a spot burned and barren, or a person brokenhearted and afraid, please remember that it's always in your power to plant something beautiful and lasting. A kind word can grow into something wonderful.

There are many crude, callous and deceitful adults, but there are also so many more of us who continue working to build a better, more just and peaceful world. 

As the new school year begins, I wish you friendship, peace and a torrent of twizzler moments!

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