Storytelling

Who knew that the Little Tuna Girl would become an author before her mom?

My daughter's school has the sweetest tradition. The first graders write and illustrate their own story. They even bind them with a cover, dedication, head shot, and biography. Then they each take a turn reading their story out loud. And the whole event culminates with a tea party.

My little girl went first and her story was very cute. It was about a horse that she and her friend save from a mean trainer. When they bring the horse home to their backyard, they find out she is pregnant. Then each of the friends can have a horse of her own.

She ended the story like this: "I made up this story but I really do want a horse of my own!!!"

That made all of the parents laugh.

I was warned that seeing her all dressed up and reading her own story to a crowd would make me cry, but I actually, for once, didn't feel like I was going to cry at all.

But, I didn't make it through the morning without crying.

One of the girls in her class wrote the story of how her family moved from New Orleans because of Hurricane Katrina. She even dedicated the book to all of the people who lost their homes to the hurricane. She told of how scared she was the day they drove away from her house and about how they had to leave her pet bunny behind.

I had to fight to keep from sobbing! I'm even tearing up now just writing about it.

So many of the hurricane victims are settled in now, but there are also still shelters full of displaced families here in our city. I know that this little girls' family was very fortunate. They had the resources to relocate and her mom was able to set up another medical practice. They even rescued their pet bunny. But the hurricane is something that has probably shaped her personality for the rest of her life.

It's one thing to put a human face on tragedy. It's something else all together to put a six-year-old's face on it.