Jeremy was born with a twisted body, a
slow mind and a chronic, terminal illness that had been
slowly killing him all his young life. Still, his parents
had tried to give him as normal a life as possible and
had sent him to St. Theresa's Elementary School. |
At the age of 12, Jeremy was only in
second grade, seemingly unable to learn. His teacher,
Doris Miller, often became exasperated with him. He would
squirm in his seat, drool and make grunting noises. |
At other times, he spoke clearly and
distinctly, as if a spot of light had penetrated the
darkness of his brain. Most of the time, however, Jeremy
irritated his teacher. One day, she called his parents
and asked them to come to St. Theresa's for a
consultation. |
As the Forresters sat quietly in the
empty classroom, Doris said to them, "Jeremy really
belongs in a special school. It isn't fair to him to be
with younger children who don't have learning problems.
Why, there is a five-year gap between his age and that of
the other students." |
Mrs. Forrester cried softly into a
tissue while her husband spoke. "Miss Miller,"
he said, "there is no school of that kind nearby. It
would be a terrible shock for Jeremy if we had to take
him out of this school. We know he really likes it
here." |
Doris sat for a long time after they
left, staring at the snow outside the window, its
coldness seemed to seep into her soul. She wanted to
sympathize with the Forresters. After all, their only
child had a terminal illness. But it wasn't fair to keep
him in her class. She had 18 other youngsters to teach,
and Jeremy was a distraction. Why waste any more time
trying? |
As she pondered the situation, guilt
washed over her. "Oh God," she said aloud,
"here I am complaining when my problems are nothing
compared with that poor family! Please help me to be more
patient with Jeremy." Then one day he limped to her
desk, dragging his bad leg behind him. |
"I love you, Miss Miller,"
he exclaimed, loud enough for the whole class to hear.
The other students snickered, and Doris's face turned
red. She stammered, "Wh-why, that's very nice,
Jeremy. Now please take your seat." |
Spring came, and the children talked
excitedly about the coming of Easter. Doris told them the
story of Jesus, and then to emphasize the idea of new
life springing forth, she gave each of the children a
large plastic egg. "Now" she said to them,
"I want you to take this home and bring it back
tomorrow with something inside that shows new life. Do
you understand?" |
"Yes, Miss Miller!" the
children responded enthusiastically-all except for
Jeremy. He just listened intently, his eyes never left
her face. He did not even make his usual noises. |
Had he understood what she had said
about Jesus' death and resurrection? Did he understand
the assignment? Perhaps she should call his parents and
explain the project to them. |
That evening, Doris's kitchen sink
stopped up. She called the landlord and waited an hour
for him to come by and unclog it. After that, she still
had to shop for groceries, iron a blouse and prepare a
vocabulary test for the next day. She completely forgot
about phoning Jeremy's parents. |
The next morning, 19 children came to
school, laughing and talking as they placed their eggs in
the large wicker basket on Miss Miller's desk. |
After they completed their math
lesson, it was time to open the eggs. |
In the first egg, Doris found a
flower. "Oh yes, a flower is certainly a sign of new
life," she said. "When plants peek through the
ground, we know that spring is here." A small girl
in the first row waved her arms. "That's my egg,
Miss Miller," she called out. |
The next egg contained a plastic
butterfly, which looked very real. Doris held it up.
"We all know that a caterpillar changes and grows
into a beautiful butterfly. Yes, that is new life,
too." Little Judy smiled proudly and said,
"Miss Miller, that one is mine!" |
Next, Doris found a rock with moss on
it. She explained that moss, too, slowed life. Billy
spoke up from the back of the classroom. "My daddy
helped me!" he beamed. |
Then Doris opened the fourth egg. She
gasped. The egg was empty! Surely it must be Jeremy's,
she thought, and, of course, he did not understand her
instructions. If only she had not forgotten to phone his
parents. Because she did not want to embarrass him, she
quietly set the egg aside and reached for another. |
Suddenly Jeremy spoke up. "Miss
Miller, aren't you going to talk about my egg?" |
Flustered, Doris replied, "But
Jeremy, your egg is empty!" He looked into her eyes
and said softly, "Yes, but Jesus' tomb was empty
too!" |
Time stopped. When she could speak
again, Doris asked him, "Do you know why the tomb
was empty?" |
"Oh yes!" Jeremy exclaimed.
"Jesus was killed and put in there. Then his Father
raised him up!" |
The recess bell rang. While the
children excitedly ran out to the school yard, Doris
cried. The cold inside her melted completely away. |
Three months later, Jeremy died. Those
who paid their respects at the mortuary were surprised to
see 19 eggs on top of his casket, all of them empty. |