Friday was a special day. Lindsey and Nick visited Bush Elementary to thank the nineteen students for participating in February’s Valentine Project.
The newlyweds arrived at the school a bit nervous; Lindsey gripped her cane for support. Nick held Lindsey’s elbow when they walked down the hall. At precisely 2:45, the couple entered Ms. Ashley’s colorful classroom of posters, artwork, calendars, math and spelling tools. A row of red, blue, yellow, black, pink, and green freshly created super heroes were pinned to a clothesline that ran from one end of the room to the other.
Students fidgeted in sturdy blue chairs, waiting for the moment they would introduce themselves. After introductions, the couple thanked the kids for the Valentines, told them they’d received over 700 so far. “And they keep coming in,” Lindsey said, grinning. Nick nodded, smiling too.
When it was question time, student’s hands darted into the air.
“Do you have pets,” one doe-eyed girl asked.
“Yes,” Lindsey said. “Two cats named Sally and Cuddles.”
“And I have a bird,” Nick added, “named Gizmo.”
“I had a dog,” a girl with brunette hair said. “But he died.”
“My grandma’s cat died,” a boy in a blue-striped shirt, said.
“Our dog died, too,” another boy said, waving his arm in the air.
Ms. Ashley reminded the students that those were stories, not questions. “Remember, we’re asking questions today,” she said.
Syresse composed a song in his Valentine and wanted to sing it for Lindsey and Nick; we brought his blue construction paper Valentine with us–a bouquet of cut-out hearts glued to a beige popsicle stick on the front. Syresse opened the card and sang. His soprano voice was mostly on key; Nick, Lindsey, and his fellow classmates applauded when he finished.
“Thank you,” Lindsey and Nick said. “That was beautiful. You’re a good singer,” Lindsey added.
After twenty minutes of standing in front of the class and answering questions about how old they were? Lindsey 32, Nick 35. Did they like the newly constructed super heroes on the clothesline? Yes, Lindsey and Nick both agreed. What was their favorite color? Green for the grass, blue for the sky, Lindsey answered, and red and yellow and purple, too. Nick likes black and purple. Favorite food? Taco Bell, the newlyweds said. Favorite sport? Basketball and football for Lindsey. Baseball for Nick. Favorite sport’s team–Ducks or Beavers? Both, Lindsey and Nick seriously said.
Lindsey and Nick presented a baggie to each child. The kids looked at the contents: stickers, a pencil, an eraser. “Thank you,” they yelled, stacking chairs on the top of their desks. Students grabbed coats, backpacks, and everyone headed outside for a group photo.
“That felt good,” Lindsey said during the thirty-minute drive back to Silverton. “It was fun.”
“That made my day,” Nick added, grinning.
The following Friday Lindsey and Nick visited another primary-colored classroom at Eugene Field. Ms. Schaefer’s twenty-three 3rd graders had mailed their Valentines in a paper red heart envelope the size of a teacher’s desktop.
The kids acted shy at first.
“May I make a statement?” A girl dressed in denim jeans and a lime green T-shirt asked. Ms. Schaefer nodded. “I think Lindsey is pretty and Nick is handsome,” she said. The classroom air filled with the sounds of “Yeah’s” and clapping hands.
“Thank you,” Lindsey and Nick said in unison. Hands sprung in the air. The couple answered sixteen questions like professionals, like they visited classrooms every week.
When it was time to pass out the goody bags, Nick pulled one baggie out of a brown paper lunch sack and handed it to Lindsey, who handed it to a student. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat. When every child in the classroom had received his/hers, the girl in the jeans and lime green T-shirt stepped forward.
“Can I have a hug?” she asked, her straight blonde locks hanging to the middle of her back.
“Sure,” Lindsey said, wrapping her arms around the young girl and squeezing tight. Eight pairs of legs formed a line behind this young lady. Lindsey hugged each lined-up third grader until 2:30, when the end-of-school-day-bell rang. Then faster than a super hero, twenty-three students scurried into the hall and vanished into their upcoming time off: spring break.
Lindsey and Nick wish they could personally visit every person who participated in the Valentine Project and say, “Thank you!” As much as this couple enjoys talking to the kids, the mental preparation for doing these events takes a toll on Lindsey (especially). She frets and worries about, well, about everything. She always grins in the end, but this will be the last classroom visit for the time being. Thanks (once again) for caring enough to send a Valentine.
My first book, Loving Lindsey: Raising a Daughter with Special Needs will be out September 26, 2017. If you would like to learn more, click here.
