Personal and Tender Moment

For those of you that know me, know that four and a half years ago my father passed away from liver cancer. The reason why I am bringing this up on a blog about my "kids" is because I am going to "tie" it in with one of them. It seems that the Lord has used this very painful part of my personal life so many times to be a help (or try to be a help) to others.
Well, this year in my class, I have had a first. I have had the privilege to teach a boy whose mother passed away a few years ago, I think the year after my father passed away. As you can imagine, this is a bond we share. I often compare it to something like a "club" no one wants to be in. There has been times we have talked about our parents and try to imagine what they are doing up in Heaven. I have said things to him like, I wonder if my dad and your mom are watching us now while we are in class. It really is sweet! It helps me, hopefully it is a help to him.
Today, for me, for some reason, was just a hard day. For some reason, I think it was a hard day for him today, too. I think we both missed our parents! He was quite "huggy." At this age, children are still "huggy" (one reason why I still love this age!). But, today, he was more so than usual. The other children noticed and even commented on it. We started talking about how he is missing his mommy. Somehow it got about me missing my dad, too. We got talking about missing those we love. I actually teared up and tried to hide it-- but they are pretty observant. It was just a personal and tender moment with my children today. It was a sweet time!
It gave me an opportunity to remind them to be thankful for their moms and dads and to tell them that they love them. I do enjoy being able to talk to my children about things concerning life not just school. Maybe it will be a reminder to you, as it is to me, to be thankful for those we do still have in our lives. That's what happened today with my "babes."