Fringe Benefits

Every so often I get gifts from the kids at school. They're mainly pictures that they've colored, or random cupcakes or cookies that a birthday boy or girl may bring to me. Since I don't have my own classroom, I haven't built huge bonds with most of the kids I see. I don't see them enough times during the week to do this.

Last week the gift in the picture above was delivered to me in the morning. By the mom. She works at the school in the morning and at lunchtime, so I see her around school a couple times each day. I don't know her name, and I don't think she knows mine, but we exchange good mornings and hellos when we see each other. Her daughters are two of my favorite students, and it's obvious that they come from a great family with good values.

This particular morning the mom walked into the library carrying something wrapped in tin foil and then a Wal-Mart bag. As she walked toward me, she kind of lifted the package up, and said, "This is for you". "Wow," I said, "What is it?" She simply said, "Bread". When she handed the package to me, it was still warm on the bottom. I asked her what time she got up that morning to bake it. "Eh," she said as she shrugged her shoulders, "About 4 or 5". What a gift. This woman baked bread from scratch, before school, so she could deliver it to me. A woman who doesn't even know my name. I'm now ashamed to say that I don't know hers.

I asked her 4th grade daughter what she usually eats with the bread. "I eat it in the morning for breakfast with tea and a little milk," she said with a smile. She knows it's a good thing.

I took the picture above with the knife in the picture to give you an idea of how big this loaf of bread is. I ended up cutting it in half and freezing half. The other half I have been noshing on, and also used it to scoop up some spinach dip (it reminds me a bit of Hawaiian bread). What a special treat. I definitely felt special receiving it.