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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

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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."

God Bless to all.