A Touch of Humor (Day 5)

Two stories from our visit with teaching friends at St. Pius scream to be shared.

The first day of school at St. Pius last year was the saddest first day of school anyone will ever experience because their beloved principal, Sister Jennifer, had just died, and many students and parents learned about her death just that morning. I cannot imagine what a difficult day that was, especially for the teachers who loved Jennifer so much but had to "be there" for their students with some degree of control.

But sometimes in the midst of sadness, funny things do happen. At 8:15 that morning, all the teachers brought the students to the sanctuary for chapel for a pre-memorial service for Sister Jennifer. At one point, the priest had the teachers go to the front and asked them to face the altar as he prayed. Of course, you teachers out there can feel their tension -- turning your back on all your students the very first day of school? One would wish for the proverbial "eyes in the back of your head."

When one of our friends returned to her seat, the little first grade girl beside her was jerking her head and flailing her arms. In deep concern, Sister asked the little girl, "What's wrong, honey? What's wrong?"

"He's k-i-s-s-i-n-g me!" the little girl complained. Thankful the child wasn't having a seizure of some sort but realizing she must address the problem, the teacher turned to the offending little boy and said, "What's this all about?"

The spunky little guy answered, "It's all about L-O-V-E, Sister!" Yep, even in the midst of tragedy and deep sadness, there come glimpses of humor.

One more anecdote for our ministry friends, especially:

Every Friday morning of the school year, we have mass at St. Pius. During one of these chapel times later in the school year last year, the priest was talking to the children about the signs of the church. His question to them was, "What is the most important sign in the church?"

Hands went up all over the sanctuary with children anxious to correctly answer the question. Upon whom did the priest call? You got it! The priest called on the spunky first grader in the above story, whose answer was, "The Exit sign!"

Kids -- ya gotta love 'em!!