JEREMY'S EGG
Jeremy was born with a twisted body, a slow
mind and a chronic, terminal illness that
had been slowly killing him all his young
life. Still, his parents had tried to give
him as normal a life as possible and had sent
him to St. Theresa's Elementary School.
At the age of 12, Jeremy was only in second
grade, seemingly unable to learn. His teacher,
Doris Miller, often became exasperated with
him. He would squirm in his seat, drool and
make grunting noises. At other times, he
spoke clearly and distinctly, as if a spot
of light had penetrated the darkness of his
brain. Most of the time, however, Jeremy
irritated his teacher.
One day, she called his parents and asked
them to come to St. Teresa's for a
consultation. As the Forresters sat quietly
in the empty classroom, Doris said to them,
"Jeremy really belongs in a special school.
It isn't fair to him to be with younger
children who don't have learning problems.
Why, there is a five-year gap between his
age and that of the other students!"
Mrs. Forrester cried softly into a tissue
while her husband spoke. "Miss Miller," he
said, "there is no school of that kind nearby.
It would be a terrible shock for Jeremy if we
had to take him out of this school. We know
he really likes it here."
Doris sat for a long time after they left,
staring at the snow outside the window. Its
coldness seemed to seep into her soul. She
wanted to sympathize with the Forresters.
After all, their only child had a terminal
illness. But it wasn't fair to keep him in
her class.
She had 18 other youngsters to teach and
Jeremy was a distraction. Furthermore, he
would never learn to read or write. Why
waste any more time trying?
As she pondered the situation, guilt washed
over her. "Oh God," she said aloud, "here I
am complaining when my problems are nothing
compared with that poor family! Please help
me to be more patient with Jeremy."
From that day on, she tried hard to ignore
Jeremy's noises and his blank stares. Then
one day he limped to her desk, dragging his
bad leg behind him. "I love you, Miss
Miller," he exclaimed, loudly enough for the
whole class to hear. The other children
snickered, and Doris's face turned red. She
stammered, "Wh-Why, that's very nice,
Jeremy. Now please take your seat."
Spring came, and the children talked
excitedly about the coming of Easter. Doris
told them the story of Jesus, and then to
emphasize the idea of new life springing
forth, she gave each of the children a
large plastic egg. "Now," she said to them
"I want you to take this home and bring it
back tomorrow with something inside that
shows new life. Do you understand?"
"Yes, Miss Miller!" the children responded
enthusiastically - all except for Jeremy.
He just listened intently, his eyes never
left her face. He did not even make his
usual noises. Had he understood what she
had said about Jesus' death and resurrection?
Did he understand the assignment? Perhaps
she should call his parents and explain the
project to them.
That evening, Doris' kitchen sink stopped up.
She called the landlord and waited an hour
for him to come by and unclog it. After that,
she still had to shop for groceries, iron a
blouse and prepare a vocabulary test for the
next day. She completely forgot about
phoning Jeremy's parents.
The next morning, 19 children came to school,
laughing and talking as they placed their
eggs in the large wicker basket on Miss
Miller's desk. After they completed their
Math lesson, it was time to open the eggs.
In the first egg, Doris found a flower.
"Oh yes, a flower is certainly a sign of
new life," she said. "When plants peek
through the ground we know that spring is
here." A small girl in the first row waved
her arms. "That's my egg, Miss Miller,"
she called out.
The next egg contained a plastic butterfly,
which looked very real. Doris held it up.
"We all know that a caterpillar changes and
turns into a beautiful butterfly. Yes, that
is new life, too." Little Judy smiled
proudly and said, "Miss Miller, that one
is mine."
Next Doris found a rock with moss on it.
She explained that the moss, too, showed
life. Billy spoke up from the back of the
classroom. "My Daddy helped me!",
he beamed.
Then Doris opened the fourth egg. She
gasped. The egg was empty! Surely it must
be Jeremy's, she thought, and, of course,
he did not understand her instructions.
If only she had not forgotten to phone
his parents. Because she did not want to
embarrass him, she quietly set the egg
aside and reached for another. Suddenly
Jeremy spoke up.
"Miss Miller, aren't you going to talk
about my egg?" Flustered, Doris replied,
"but Jeremy - your egg is empty!" He
looked into her eyes and said softly,
"Yes, but Jesus' tomb was empty too!"
Time stopped. When she could speak again.
Doris asked him, "Do you know why the
tomb was empty?" "Oh yes!" Jeremy
exclaimed. "Jesus was killed and put in
there. Then his Father raised him up!"
The recess bell rang. While the children
excitedly ran out to the school yard,
Doris cried. The cold inside her melted
completely away.
Three months later Jeremy died. Those who
paid their respects at the mortuary were
surprised to see 19 eggs on top of his
casket,...............all of them empty.
(
geocities.com/heartland/oaks/5346) (
geocities.com/heartland/oaks) (
geocities.com/heartland)