JEREMY'S 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.
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 Forrester's 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 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 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."
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'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' 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 turns
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 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 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.
