"My grandfather ran off the V-2 rocket film a dozen times and then hoped that someday our cities would open up more and let the green and the land and the wilderness in more, to remind people that we're allotted a little space on earth and that we survive in that wilderness that can take back what it has given, as easily as blowing its breath on us or sending the sea to tell us we are not so big. When we forget how close the wilderness is in the night, my grandpa said, someday it will come in and get us, for we will have forgotten how terrible and how real it can be. You see?" Granger turned to Montag. "Grandfather's been dead for all these years, but if you lifted my skull, by God, in the convolutions of my brain you'd find the big ridges of his thumbprint. He touched me. As I said earlier, he was a sculptor. 'I hate a Roman named Status Quo!' he said to me. 'Stuff your eyes with wonder,' he said, 'live as if you'd drop dead in ten seconds. See the world. It's more fantastic than any dream made or paid for in factories. Ask no guarantees, ask for no security, there never was such an animal. And if there were, it would be related to the great sloth which hangs upside down in a tree all day every day, sleeping its life away. To hell with that,' he said, 'shake the tree and knock the great sloth down on his ass.'"
— Ray Bradbury
This is what we read in class today. I cry every time - Every Single Time. It makes me sad that there are students in my classroom that don't have a thumbprint. That there is no one to tell them that the world is better because they are in it. I try everyday to be the person that is different in that child's life. The person I want to be is someone who can be looked up to. I want to be the one who says it's cool not to do drugs or drink. That yes there is a way to have fun without being that bad kid and hang out with the wrong crowd.
I had a student today raise her hand and say "but Mrs. Parsons I'm just one person - Who's going to listen to just one person." I wanted to weep for her. I wish that there was a way to remind every single small person that one is a number that matters.
After my staff meeting today I got back to my computer and found an email from a student. She also lamented that she felt small and a bit lost - that she could not pinpoint someone who was her thumbprint. She apologised for making me take time out of my day to even read the email. It makes me so sad that there is a fear and an assumption that a teacher is only that for the hours of a school day.
My students are such thumbprints in my life. I told them this and they did the expected 'ahhh and oooo'. That's not my intention I don't want them to think I say things like this just to get that emotion out of them. It's purely the truth. I wish them the best in the world and that they get the best education I can give them. It's because I want them to be amazing humans. I need them to be great - because they are the people who are going to help me in my old age. These are the people who are going to be creating other human beings and if they are good parents those little people that they create will go on doing good.
I want to do good. I am reminded of this when I look at the students in my classroom. And it is my hope that I can continue to inspire others to do some good too.
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