Show and Tell

Third-grader Remi was concluding the day with her “Star of the Week” presentation. It’s a prolonged show-and-tell in which the children take turns revealing themselves to their classmates via poster, photographs, drawings, and personal artifacts.

There were photos of Remi as a baby and others at various ages, with family members, and at different vacation spots.

“This is my dog,” Remi said, pulling a stuffed animal out of a tote bag. “And look, she has puppies,” unzipping four smaller stuffed animals from the mother dog’s stomach. Remi also talked about a purple plush carry-all bought for her in Italy by her musician father.

“And here is my favorite,” she said, holding up a locket on a ribbon. “It was my great grandma’s.” She opened the locket. “This is a spot for a small photo of me, but I didn’t put one in yet.”

I was standing next to Athan, one of her classmates, during this part of the presentation. He motioned for me to lean over so that he could say something. When I did, he whispered conspiratorially, “Sometimes when two people are in love, they put photos of each other in the locket.”