A Jon Owen-centric Post

So everybody knows what a really special kid Jon Owen is.  All kids have their strengths, and Jon Owen's is definitely his character.  Thoughtful, kind, sensitive, fair-minded, responsible, loving, introspective, and very, very observant.  So Jon Owen's last day of school was Friday.  And leading up to Friday, there were so many wonderful things he did and said, that I just have to memorialize them. 

End of School Prayer

Every day at school, before Jon Owen's class goes to chapel, they gather in a circle of prayer.  They hold hands, and if they want to, they pray for something specific -- a relative, a classmate who is home sick, a new pet, etc.  So on Monday, Jon Owen told me that he had been thinking about what he was going to pray for on his last day of school (Friday).  And this is what he said, "Dear God, thank you for this school year.  Thank you for giving me 12 new friends.  And thank you for my teachers who helped me learn so much."  When he told me this, I cried.  When he said his prayer on the last day of school, his teachers cried.  And as I'm typing this now, I'm crying again.

Kindergarten Memory Book

Mrs. Vacek prepared extraordinary memory books for each of the kids containing much of the work they had done in Kindergarten, memories, photographs, etc.  On the day that she passed them out, Jon Owen went up to her and said, "Putting this together was a lot of work, Mrs. Vacek.  Thank you for these memories."  And that night at the dinner table, he told us his "best" moment was getting his memory book, and that it made him so happy he "got tears in his eyes."

Last Day of School

So without any prompting whatsoever, Jon Owen decided that he wanted to buy his teachers some flowers and make them a card for the last day of school.  I wish that I'd copied the words in the cards, because they were so sweet and perfect for each teacher and what they meant to him.  He told Mrs. Vacek that he would never forget her, and I don't think he ever will.  So here he is, with a pink "happy" orchid for Mrs. Vacek and a white "peaceful" orchid for Mrs. Trent.  Notice the tears in their eyes.  There have been quite a few of those to go around these days.