He was not the brightest kid to walk through my door. In fact, I he struggled, a lot, when he started to try. But when he entered my sixth grade class, he was anything but ready to try. He was 11, maybe 12, tall and lanky, and a kid whose world had just fallen apart. Ill never forget the lost look in his eyes...lost because of loss hed suffered. Hed found his sisters precious body in the neighbors pool that year, a special needs sister who had always depended on her big brother, who loved him to no end, and the feeling was mutual. He started the year in my English class reluctant, unwilling to write a sentence, much less an essay, until one assignment struck a note with him, and the words flowed like a raging river. His story was about his angel, his hero, his little sister, who even though she faced challenges, she faced them with love and happiness. He wrote the details of the tragic event, her getting out of the house somehow, him walking the neighborhood with his family calling her name, and then the surreal moments of seeing her in the pool through the cracks in the neighbors fence, the gut wrenching feeling of knowing deep down that he was too late, climbing over and pulling her little body out, remembering how much she had loved water, remembering his last time swimming and playing with her, and wondering if she had called out to him to save her in her final moments. He was haunted, but putting those words on that paper seemed to release the hold that guilt had had on him. He seemed cleansed, although still grieved. Things changed in Markell. He began to try in his classes. He took notes, a new thing for him! He asked for help. He ended the school year as a happier, kid. I actually caught him smiling and laughing a few times. Over the next few years, I kept up with his academics (I dont think he ever made straight As, but he began to care about his grades and made improvements). I also kept up with his extra curriculars...his basketball game was tops and later in high school, my husband coached him in baseball, where again he proved to be a shining star on the diamond. I kept his old sixth grade writing for many years. I even spoke to his mom about getting her a copy, many times, but as I moved my classroom this summer and looked in the folder it had been in all these years, it was mysteriously gone. This morning as I read of Markells death and the tragic details of the craziness that took his life, I am even more sad that I have lost his paper. He was a young man with so much life ahead of him, a flame that should still be shining in this dark world. Im glad you died doing what you loved. I know youre already on that basketball court in Heaven, giving the angels some pointers, Markell. Godspeed.
Posted on: Sun, 09 Nov 2014 15:05:20 +0000