Her Favorite Thing

Many of you know this, but for a couple of years, I worked in the school office with Perma-Baby. It's where she learned to talk, walk, and eat Turkish black olives with pits as a toddler. On more than one occasion, she answered the school phone (when we weren't watching). She drank Turkish tea (with the real glass teacup... the Turks insisted she must have it in the right cup). Many of her first words were Turkish. She greeted our guests. She'd occasionally sneak off, and I'd find her curled up in a teacher's lap while they taught math. After a few months, I quit packing her lunch each morning. The 6th grade boys gave her so much food, it became unnecessary. Yes, she sort of grew up at school. She has dreamed of being a student ever since she can remember. This year it happened. I envisioned myself tearing up a little when I walked her to her classroom and saw her in her chair on the very first day. But it didn't happen like that at all. She so bravely marched to her classroom on her own, she didn't need me to take her to her seat. As long as I live, I'll never forget how she looked as she walked past me. Ready to take on anything the day held for her. I did get teary-eyed. But you know how it is, you wonder where the time went. I did have just one question, of course, at the end of the day. "Eva, what was your very favorite thing you did today?"

Her response? "Eating." I am glad she has her priorities straight.