Volunteered helping pre-kindergarten kids learn to read and write. 

Today was my first summer lunch hour volunteering with some children who will be entering kindergarten.

Every one of the kids had different reading and writing skills. Some could write their name. Some could barely hold a pen. Some were ready to read a sentence. Some couldn’t sit still long enough to look at a picture.

But out of all the kids there was one girl that I will remember. And I saw her because of what she saw, which I did not see.

Cecilia, (Name changed) was a sweet little girl, demur, and very willing to try to read the simple sentences in an animal book. She sat patiently, mimicking the sounds I made as we read together. Not confident at all, but willing to try.

Cecilia was fascinated with the two-fingered bounce I used to demonstrate how the kangaroo hopped.  She also bounced with her fingers. But whereas I used one hand and two fingers to bounce, she used two hands with two fingers each. I wondered why.

She eventually told me it was the mother and the joey in the pouch just like she saw in the picture. She saw the joey. I only saw the mother.

Often, we only see what we want to see. But that doesn’t mean what we see is the most important.

We walk by people everyday without noticing them. We often ignore the weakest in our society without a passing thought. Right in our communities there are people who go to bed hungry. Do we see them?

Maybe, we need to slow down and look around.

Maybe, we too need to see the joey.