Teacher Tales: A Gift of Self

The other morning, Destiny, a student of mine from last year, came into my classroom while I was in the middle of taking attendance and handed me a Christmas box, asking me to please give it to Anali, my student from last year who had surgery to remove a brain tumor.  

 I assumed the box was a belated Christmas gift, told her, “Oh, sure, that’s nice of you.”  I put it down and continued what I was doing until later in the day when I had a moment to look at it closer.  Curious, I lifted the lid.

Soon after we heard the news of Anali’s diagnosis, I had a conversation with my class about chemotherapy and the havoc that it wreaks on a cancer patient’s body, including hair loss. 

“What do they do after they lose their hair?  Just be bald forever?” one student inquired.

“No,” I replied, “Usually they wear hats, caps, and scarves over their heads until their hair grows back.  Or some people buy wigs.  Actually, people donate their hair so wigs can be made for cancer patients.”

That was all that we discussed on the topic.

Destiny cut her hair and gave it to Anali, thinking she could make a wig out of it.  Of course, I had failed to explain how people actually donate their hair to an organization that makes wigs.  But this act of kindness on Destiny’s part touched me so much that after school I walked to each of my teammate’s rooms to show them was what held inside that Christmas box.  This was, by far, the most generous gift I saw all season.

In Destiny's behalf, I will donate the hair to Locks of Love.