Mon Petit Miette

On the wall behind me was our multimedia screen, and the message read, "DO NOW: Look at the object in front of your media screen.  Write about what you see.  Today will be just like every other, and yet, it will be different."  I could have shown them everything on the holographic in the center of our round table.  Or, they could have viewed everything on the personal multimedia screens embedded in front of them.  Even still, they could have looked up at the planetarium-like ceiling.  But, I wanted all eight of them (well, technically nine) to view and hold--to sense--the real thing.

James was the first to enter through the French doors.  He picked up the object, held it close to his eyes, and focused, all before he even sat down.

The rest of the eight poured in, all with their idiosyncrasies, which made me smile.

"Papa?"  The whisper came from my side.  "What's that?" my daughter asked, eyes wide open, as she pointed to the object in front of me.  

"This is what our class is going to learn about today."

"Hi, Sage," James said, after he paused from typing. "Is it Father-Daughter Work Day?"

"Yes!" Sage beamed.  "James, do you know what this is?"

He looked at me, and then Sage, and said, "Well, Sage, what do you think it is?"

She stared again, in wonder, at the small object ... and looked over at Hideki, who responded to her visual inquiry, "It could be a small rock."

I nodded and listened to him.  "Possibly, Hideki."  The others looked again and remained silent for a minute before I moved us along.  "All right.  Today's class will be outside ... in the garden.  Any thoughts?"

"But ... I thought that we were discussing technology today, Mr. G."

"We are Ana--"

"I know what it is, Papa," Sage interjected, her face the picture of awe.  "It's a seed."  She put her hand to her mouth.  "Sorry, Papa, I didn't mean to interrupt."

"Thank you, Sage."  I turned and made eye contact with all eight of my students.  "What does everyone else think?  Could this be a seed?"

Yuri was the first to agree as others nodded.  "Good observation, Sage!  Wow, I can't believe that I missed that."

"As I said yesterday, we'll be studying technology this week--prehistoric technology to begin with.  And, each of you has a seed in front of you."

"Follow Mrs. K out to the garden.  Sage and I will be there in a moment.  Then, we'll get our hands dirty so that we can talk and learn about the power of technology that is contained in one apple seed."

As my students followed Mrs. K, my daughter plopped herself across my lap, yawned, and grabbed and snuggled into my arm.  "I love you, Papa," she said.  Sweet words for ears so biased.  

 "I love you, too.  That was a good observation you made, Sage."

"Thank you, Papa ... Can we join Auntie Leah's class later?" she murmured as she eased into dream, eyelids closed, her breaths getting softer, as I shed a tear when no one else was around to see.  

"That sounds like a great idea, Sage."

I will never see--I cannot tell her that she will not ... see me every morning for the rest of her life.  I looked down at my daughter, and then looked away.  How long do I--We'll never--Just one more w--I will miss you, My Little Love, My Little Lady, My Little Crumb, Mon Petit Miette.