Story

Story

Posted on by Lauren

It’s been five months since I started meeting my students for 15-30 min daily. 

Piece-by-piece I unravel their stories. 

Sleeping in cars, hotels or disappearing one day. 

Sometimes for a month, sometimes for . . . .

That is their life. 

Unknown. 

And I meet them where they are. 

Together, we read. 

Piece-by-piece. 

At first a sound, then a syllable and next, a word. 

Piece-by-piece we make sentences. 

“We spend just xx minutes together. The rest is up to you. Do you want to read? People like me will come and go, but you’ll always have you.”

I look them in the face and remind them that ultimately, 

It’s their story. 

I’m just a chapter. 

Far

Posted on by Lauren

I spent the better part of my first forty years desperate for others to understand how far I’ve come from where I started. 

Surely, they’d respect and understand me more?

But now I know, we all have stories, untold. 

And it’s best to approach all with the grace we’ve always wished upon ourselves. 

Hold my hand. 

Lean in. 

We’ve come so far. 

Camille Vaughan Photography

Small Things

Posted on by Lauren

IMG_1715.jpeg

 

You see a small girl in big, white boots and I see so much more.

I see the discarded shoes belonging to her three sisters and the slippers belonging to her granny.

I see the matchbox car parked next to the princess toys that define my third-born.

I see my husband’s favorite sweatshirt hanging from the coat rack.  We have no idea how we acquired this sweatshirt.  It just appeared in our house one day and has yet to leave his side.

The nightlight represents the light that chases away my daughters’ fear of the dark.

And that white Tupperware from the 70s belonging to my mother-in-law and filled with flour is temporarily sitting on the bench to make room for all of the Thanksgiving sides in the refrigerator.

A picture is a thousand words.

So look closely at yours.

Because the small things aren’t worth missing.