Friend #58

Do you remember when you were in school and got something new and couldn't wait to bring it to school to show it off? In 10th grade I got a fluffy white kitten who I named Rajah. We adopted her right after school one day and I was so excited to show my friends, that I had my dad drive me to that evening's basketball game so I could show it off to everyone. Weird. I know.
And then there was the time when one of the students at my school came in for a parent-teacher conference with his mother. She was SO excited to show off her very ornery chihuahua, which she brought everywhere she went. It was her baby. (I'll refrain from going in-depth about how much I hate this dog.) The principal needed to be at this conference as well as the teachers. At some point during the meeting, the principal got up to get a piece of paper and the damn rat-dog bit him! The thing actually drew blood from the principal!
Fast forward to today. A student, Ashley, who I have had for two years now, asked me if she could wait in my classroom until her mom picked her up. We chatted about how her grandmother, Alona, passed away recently. She told me about her grandmother and how she used to make Ashley wipe the floorboards every time she visited. She told me about Alona's hate toward anyone outside of her own race. We discussed whether her grandmother was in Heaven now...or not. We had some really great laughs for the second day of school.
Ashley's mom arrived and Ashley got into the car. Her mom said something to her and Ashley did a little clap clap clap. "Miss!" I turned to the car. "Miss! Mira! Look!" Ashley ran to me with a box in her hands. I looked at the small box. I looked at Ashley. I looked at Ashley's mom in the car. The mom was smiling ear to ear, just as Ashley was. "Miss! My mom just picked up my grandma's ashes! Look!"
Yes, I stopped her before she opened the box. So although I never laid eyes on Alona, I met her today.