A quote: “A rock pile ceases to be a rock pile the moment a single man contemplates it, bearing within him the image of a cathedral.” ~~ Antoine de Saint-Exupery

I’ll start with a story …

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I arrived five minutes early, but was left sitting in the lobby for fifteen minutes. Even after I was ushered into the Vice Principal’s office, I had to sit and wait while she scrolled through her tablet, left hand on a folder next to her. Another ten minutes before she even looked up to acknowledge me.

“Thank you for coming, Ms. Taylor …”
“Mrs.”
She blinked, “Oh, yes. Mrs. Taylor. I take it your partner …”
“Husband.”
Quick frown, “Your husband can’t make this meeting?”
“He sends his regrets. However, he trusts me completely.”
“Well, yes, I see. This meeting is to discuss your offspring, Peter …”
“Son. Peter is our son. Is he failing math?”
“What? No, he excels in math, beyond what we expect of third graders.”
“Then is it reading? Or history?”
I saw her jaw clench and kept a smile off my face, “Ms .. Mrs. Taylor, please. Peter is first in his class in academics …”
“Then why am I here?”
“Because he is a disruptive influence!” she shoved the folder towards me.
Papers of Peter’s drawings – planes, military jets. Tanks doodled in margins. Jeeps jumping hills on the back of spelling tests.
“These drawings are disruptive? Peter draws like this all the time. You see, his dad is a vet and …”
“That is not the point, Mrs. Taylor. The drawings are inappropriate and indicative of a propensity for violence, AND he is doing many of them for other students. This will not do.”
“Of course, it won’t,” I smiled and handed her an envelope, “We are withdrawing Peter from school.”
“Oh, you can’t do …”

I was already out the door. I held the folder of Peter’s drawings, the last thing to fit in my packed car. My husband had Peter and was beyond the state border.

Whatever the future held for us, saving our son was the most important.

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Now, it’s your turn.
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. featured image, cropped, Adobe Stock standard license