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.Furthermore，he would never learn to reador 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，loud enough for the whole class to hear.The other children snickered，and Doris’s face turned red.She stammered，“Why-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.