In a Dirty Shirt
Richard was the boy in my first grade class who never had quite enough for lunch. He made his way to school alone along the back path on foot. He told stories no one believed, and he always wore the same wrinkled and stained shirt. Unless they had reason, the other kids left him alone.
Every morning as writing practice, I wrote a sentence starter on the board. The kids would copy it down. Then they’d finish the sentence with their own words and continue writing on. The language they wrote in, a special one called First Gradian, was one only they could decode, but the practice of putting a message in text was an important. So after they wrote, I asked each child to read his or her missive aloud.
On this morning, the sentence starter was What I really want is . . .
It was a big class for a first grade, and so there were many answers. One by one, the children came up to read their papers. They asked for a bike, a trip to the circus, a video game, the latest doll — all were innocent dreams of children with no worries. All except one.
Richard’s paper showed only more two words longer than those I had written down. He stood by my desk turned toward the group and read.
What I want is . . . a hug.
A child in the front came up and gave him one. Then came another. Soon a room of first graders was hugging each other.
Richard was brave and vulnerable. He knew what he needed, and he asked.
We can change the world — just like that.
–ME “Liz” Strauss
If we want to change the world, maybe we should start by asking ourselves what we can do to provide some relief for the people caught in the crossfire in Iraq.
There are a lot of families there with no providers because their military-age sons have all been arrested as suspected parts of the insurgency. The economy is so shot to hell that people who want to work can’t find any.
There have to be some relief organizations working on this problem. Does anyone know of a reputable charity? Could we all raise money?
Hi Teresa!
We’re all feeling the need to change the world in one way or another. Most of us are feeling helpless in some way. Few of us have any extra money to throw at problems bigger than what we could gather, if we had the time to gather it.
So we look for ways to change the world on this side of the water, where we can make difference in the lives of folks here that people often make invisible, because we don’t want to believe that they could exist among us too.
In 1989, in a small children’s shelter, I had a dream of changing the world, one kid at a time.
Eighteen years later, the world needs changing more than it ever has before.
I am not disouraged.Never before have I been more confident in a generation. This generation of young people will be the generation which changes the world.
In less than 12 months I have met amazing youth, including those in Free The Children of Canada, who have recruited 350,000 young people in 41 countries and have built over 475 schools in 39 developing countries.
This organization was founded by a 12 year old in 1995. The average age in Free The Children is 23.
Two professional soccer players in their 20’s came to Chicago this summer for the sole reason to help our organization and set the World Record for number of hugs given in 24 hours. They did it – and hugged 4,188 people to set a new record and give a moment of joy to thousands.
Your beautiful story reminded me of one moment that day.
A group of school kids asked their teacher if they could get a hug. When she said yes, they all ran forward. One 6 year old boy who was at the back waited on the sidewalk alone, in his wheelchair.
We asked him if he would like a hug. He looked down for the longest time. Then he lifted his head, and with tears rolling down his face, he said,” I would love a hug.”
Since 1989 Dreams for Kids has impacted the lives of over 25,000 kids.
I was encouraged to tell our story in book, so that more kids could be reached. That book, Kiss of a Dolphin was published in November and has ignited our global expansion.
Maybe we can come to your neighborhood and help end the isolation of children and give them an opportunity to live a life of dreams come true.
Let’s change the world together.
http://www.dreamsforkids.org
Tom Tuohy!
I can’t believe you’re in Chicago!
Thanks for this story Thanks for this lovely comment. Thanks for sharing Dreams for Kids with us here.
You’re not a stranger anymore. !!!!
Wow… not often get teary-eyed reading through blogs… nice.
Hi Calvin!
Welcome and thank you. 🙂
Wow, did you manage not to stand there and cry? That’s what I’m sitting here doing… Thanks for sharing that story.
Hi Kris,
It was a most amazing experience. In truth I was the first one to hug him. I was so proud of tall of the kids. I could only smile with tears in my eyes.
Hi Liz,
As I was preparing to write my own blog about asking for what we need, I did a quick and simple search (key words “asking for what we need”). It didn’t take me long to find your post, and I knew immediately that I wanted others to read what you’d written here.
I couldn’t help but return and simply say thank you for visiting my post, and for sharing a bit more about your experience. You ARE making a difference in the world!
With warmest regards,
Haley Carter
Dear Haley,
Thank you for this lovely comment, and too, for coming over to my blog. It means so much that you do.
It’s wonderful to hear the story behind your post. Every writer is curious about how another writer works.
Smiles,
Liz
The world indeed need change and this generation trust me is the change we need. c u guyz on the way to the top.