"Grandparent's Day". It was a Saturday event at my new place of employment,
Kensington School just a few weeks ago. Now, to be honest, I wasn't sure what to expect, I was still getting adjusted to the place and wasn't really sure how many people would show up on a sunny Saturday. My experience at Kensington as a teaching assistant so far had been eye opening, and did I mention I was still getting adjusted?
(A little background....) Beginning in August of 2009, I began a volunteer year with
Amate House, a post-graduate volunteer program that was started by Chicago's Archdiocese in 1984. Over the years it has stayed in operation through the support of a number of agencies throughout the city. It gives young people the opportunity to serve the people of Chicago in a variety of settings.
I served in an inner-city Catholic primary school, and had the opportunity to work with the preschoolers during my days. It was a year of growth for me, to say the least. I had the opportunity to live in community with 12 other people ranging in age throughout their 20's and each from their own walk of life. We
bonded. As we worked in our various settings--schools, health clinics, food pantries, teen centers, and non-profit agencies, we'd come home each night to cook together and share our stories--we'd reflect, struggle sometimes, and ultimately grow with each new experience. We lived simply, and the roof over our heads was an old convent--one with a
lot character-- it's own unique set of sights, sounds, and long list of quirks.
It is a year that changed my viewpoint of the struggles of our world. It made me realize that there are people who face real pain, real challenge, true and significant obstacles that are presented by society, race, gender, violence, poverty, poor physical or mental health, or age, and through my work, I got to feel those struggles in one tiny corner of our Earth, and in a tangible way, through the lives of my students and their families.
I came to be truly connected to my students, their emotions, their misbehaviors, their benchmarks reached, I felt like I had gained 25 new little souls that were now stored deep within my heart chambers.
Their upbringing could not be more different than my own. For general reasons such as the fact that they live in the city, and I come from a place where the population sign reads 2,401 and the scenery includes green space-- and lots of it. These kids take city buses to school, commonly live in apartments with a number of family members, and need to make their way to public parks if they want a space to burn some energy. They could teach me street lingo, and every word to the latest T.I. song. Culturally and economically, the list of differences between me and them was long. But it was in the simple things that I found our most intrinsic similarities. They sought laughter, enjoyed making friends, counted down the days until their birthdays, loved telling stories about their Moms, Dads, cousins, Pappies and Nana's, sisters, brothers, and dogs, they scraped their knees and asked for a band aid, and then without fail, asked for another one before the school day was up. They were kids with stories and hopes, and goals for their futures, they were vibrant, wise beyond their years, and from them, my heart became filled with joy each day, as we shut the classroom doors, and forgot about the barriers that seperate us beyond them.
Flash forward with me now....late September 2010, and I'm now in a new setting. I'm in white suburbia at a new school, and have been introduced to 20 new 4-year-old little bundles of life. and
Energy. My experience, though in a very different setting, has already taught me lessons.
At first, I had this unexpected feeling of almost resentment--not sure how else to describe it. As the Escalades and Lexus's pulled up to drop their kids off that first week, I had this feeling of, "You don't get how privileged you are...". How could there be such an economic difference with only about a 15 mile seperation? Why are there kids practically down the road, without food, while these kids have the latest j.crew hipsters?
...I had to stop myself. I quickly learned that it's not that these people, in this new setting
don't get it, it's just that they have the right to live their life, and unfortunately others will struggle. There have always been those who are forced to struggle and those that are more privileged by means of economic stability. However, I have had the opportunity through this seemingly cross-cultural experience, to work with the same aged kids, and guess what? Their dreams are the same. It seems that deep down and from our start, no matter where we're from, at the ripe age of 4, we want to make something of ourselves. We have innocent hearts and not a lot of worry to deal with. We see the good in people despite what their wearing or what they drive.
...So Grandparent's Day...it was packed. It was a morning full of art projects, outdoor activities, photo opportunities, and snack stops, that all included these beaming 3, 4, and 5 year olds with their grandparents in tow. Some had 4+ grandparents all tagging along behind them. Some were rolly polly Grandpas who had to take a rest at most of the stops while Gradma got right down and colored with the granddaughter. Others were energetic, stylish, and fast paced as they not only kept up, but couldn't wait to take their grandchild to the next station. I watched and soaked in the family dynamics of each child, and for those of you who know me, it was a blast because two of my favorite things in life are people watching and family trees.
Grandpa's talking to Grandpa's, Teachers meeting Nana and Papa for the first time, it was a great day filled with love of all generations and again, all kinds of family dynamics. Couples following around the same grandchild seeming to have not a thing in common beside their grandchild, were laughing and enjoying the activities. At one point, on the other end of the room I overheard a man and woman probably in their upper 70's joking with each other. He was demonstrating how to do lunges, as he recommended she try to do them each morning while she brushed her teeth or walks to get the paper. "You gotta use it or lose it!" he said to her with a smile. As they walked closer to me, he leans over and whispers in my direction, "Can you tell we used to be married?"...I thought that was pretty funny, and pretty great that they both showed up that day. Him riding her about her exercise routine, may however, be a good sign for why they ended up splitting.
My point (though quite long winded, please forgive me), is that I feel like love can come in many different forms. We are all human, we all have our own story, background, belief system, goofy grandparents, and wardrobe in our closet. We drive different cars and have varying balances in our bank accounts.
...but I have been comforted and reminded of the goodness of people through not only my students, but through the awesome grandparents that showed up that Saturday. Perhaps they have come to a point in their life where they can sit back a little more and enjoy the little things. Their life stories have a few more chapters and they've learned there's not a heavy need for editing, only more creative writing--a need to have fun with it!
That day I enjoyed seeing the smiling faces of an age group I'm not as used to working with, and ultimately the joy that was shared between the generations.
Love comes in many forms, we just have to stop and look for it...in every corner.
I'll leave you with a quote from one of my favorite movies, I think it's fitting....
“Whenever I get gloomy with the state of the world, I think about the arrivals gate at Heathrow Airport. General opinion's starting to make out that we live in a world of hatred and greed, but I don't see that. It seems to me that love is everywhere. Often it's not particularly dignified or newsworthy, but it's always there - fathers and sons, mothers and daughters, husbands and wives, boyfriends, girlfriends, old friends. When the planes hit the Twin Towers, as far as I know none of the phone calls from the people on board were messages of hate or revenge - they were all messages of love. If you look for it, I've got a sneaky feeling you'll find that love actually is all around.”
--Love Actually
