Jeremys
Egg
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 distincly, as
if a spot light had
penetrated the darkness
of his brain. Most of the
time however, Jeremy
irritated his teacher.
One day,
she called him parents
and asked them to come to
school for a
consultation. As the
Forrester's sat quietly
in the empty classroom
Doris said to them,
"Jeremy really
belongs in a special
school. It isn't fair for
him to be with the
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
Forrester's. 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. Furthermore,
he would never learn to
read or write. Why waste
any more time trying???
As she
pondered the situation,
guilt washed over.
"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." From that
day on, she tried hard to
ignore Jeremy's noises
and his blank stares.
Then one day he limped to
her desk, dragging his
bad leg behind him,
"I love you Miss
Miller," he
exclaimed, loudly enough
for the whole class to
hear.
The other
children snickered, and
Doris' face turned red.
She stammered,
"Wh-Why, that's very
nice Jeremy. Now please
take your seat."
Doris told the story of
Jesus and then to
emphasize the idea of new
spring, springing forth,
she gave each child 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' 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
Millers' 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 turns into a
beautiful butterfly. Yes,
that is a new life,
too" little Judy
smiled proudly and siad,
"Miss Miller, that
one is mine." Next
Doris found a rock with
moss on it. She explained
that the moss, too,
showed 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 embarras 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 out
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 of the
school yeard, Doris
cried. The cold inside
her melted away.
Three
month 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.
Mary Jean
Hammonds, Author
_______________
Note:
Prior to Easter, we
distributed this writing
to hundreds of people at
a job fair that we
participated in . (We
also have them placed in
our reception area). The
letter is scrolled and
tied with a ribbon.
Attached is an
"empty plastic
egg."