This year Gabby started Middle School, 6th grade
or Junior High…however you want to see it. Big stuff, Right?
She started on August 15th, a Thursday. Her aide
from elementary school, Mr. Williams, met her there and stayed until she told
him to leave, which was after second period. He made Gabby show him where her
classroom was, her locker, the gym etc.…. He told her, “Gabby, I don’t know
this school, it’s your school, and you show me around.” He had sent me text
stating that she was doing great and was getting the hang of getting around.
So, on the following Monday, I took her to school and on our
drive (which is from West Roseville to Carmichael), I asked her a few questions.
“So Gabs, tell me again
what class you have first?”
And she said “PE”.
“And what do you need to bring to PE again?”
“Just my binder”
“Do you need your locks?”
“No, no locks yet, they will tell us when we need our locks
for our PE lockers”
“I forget, what room do you go to?”
“25.”
AWESOME. She knows it all! So, I walk her up to the hallway
that leads to the lockers, say bye and walk away with Lucy. Lucy and I get
about halfway around the building and I tell her, I have to go back. Lucy can
tell that I am crying and she asks if I am worried about Gabby and I tell her
yes. I look down the long hallway and Gabby is standing at the end, almost to
the hallway she needs to go down for her locker. She’s looking around, and then
her shoulders pick up and she knows where she needs to go. We watch her put her
stuff in her locker and we walk away.
There are teachers at the end of every hallway making sure
kiddos are going where they need to go. I stop to talk to one but I was having
a hard time through the tears. But he gets the gist of what I am worried about
and calls over the principle. The principle is so nice and he walks Lucy and I back
to his office, pulls up Gabby’s student file and says, “I’ll got check to make
sure she is where she needs to be.” About 3 minutes pass and he walks in with 2
thumbs up and says she’s in room 25 listening to her PE teacher lecture. He reassured me that he had met with Mr.
Williams last week and Mr. Williams was VERY confident that Gabby could handle
this new transition. The principle then hands me a handful of Tootsie Roll Suckers
and tells me to have one every time I am worried about her today and to
remember that she can do this.
Of course she can. She knows what she is doing. She’s got this.
I’m bursting with pride and happiness. And a little bit of
shame that I doubted her abilities.
Picking her up was amazing. An aide walked out with her to
let us know how great she did. She said, if she were I, she wouldn’t think
twice about dropping her off. Gabby knows what she is doing, where she is going
and what she needs to do. I thought my heart was going to burst open. Her and
Gabby then rattled off names of all her friends in each class and lunch.
AMAZING!
I high fived my girl and we headed off to pick up Lucy.
Gabby ran into her 5th grade teacher and Mrs. K hugged her and said,
“Gabby I have missed you! You were my inspiration!”
Truth is, Gabby is my inspiration too.
