Today I am thankful for the gift of tears.

11.14.19

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First grader: I saw you crying, Ms. Wiebel.

Guilty as charged. I totally cried today. In front of my students and a room full of senior citizens.

We went on a field trip today to a retirement living community. Our first graders have been learning all about our country, and in honor of Veterans Day we prepared a number of patriotic songs to perform at a nearby retirement center. The kids have been working really hard to memorize all the words and perfect their songs. They were so excited to sing for an audience.

The senior citizens who came to see the kids perform were pretty excited as well. As the kids filed in we overheard remarks like, “Aren’t they cute?” “They’re so little!” and “I can’t believe they came.” When the kids started to sing, everyone in the room melted. The seniors cheered and cheered at the end of This Land is Your Land and there were a number of chuckles as the kids spouted off the names of all 50 states during the song Fifty Nifty United States.

The whole thing was pretty darn sweet. As the other teachers and I stood in the back of the room, mirroring the actions to the kids lest they forget their choreographed moves, our hearts all swelled with pride. I was teary-eyed during almost the entire 30 minute show. The moment I really lost it, though, was when 84 adorable 6 and 7 year olds decked out in red white and blue, sang out “I’m proud to be an American!” with more conviction than Yankee Doodle himself.

Sometimes I get bogged down in thinking about what a crazy place our world is. The problems seem pretty immense. But hearing these sweet voices proclaim their pride in our country, I couldn’t help but see endless amounts of hope in their innocent little faces.

I know I can be overly sentimental at times. Idealistic too. Even cheesy, perhaps. But I’ve come to embrace it all as just part of who I am. And crying honors that part of me. So, back in the classroom when one of the kids called me out for crying during their performance, I simply owned it. I explained how sometimes adults cry when they’re happy or proud or hopeful and I told them that’s how their performance made me feel.

We have an encore show tomorrow for the kids’ families, and I will be prepared with tissues this time – just in case.