THANK YOU MISS DIERNESS

There it lay, its brittle pieces scattered on the classroom floor…Miss Dierness’ Christmas ornament.  My little first grade brain was horrified at the accident I had caused. There was no way I could glue back together the bits and pieces of ornament.  It was shattered.  I liked Miss Dierness but my fear far out shadowed my affection for her.  I was certain she would become very angry at my clumsiness.  After all, my own mother repeatedly reminded me of my bungling ways.  So I did what any self-respecting small child would do – I quickly brushed the pieces away from view.

To this day, I don’t know how Miss Dierness discovered the deed; maybe there were red pieces of glass still scattered on the classroom floor. I remember the terrible moment when she asked the entire class who had broken the ornament.  My face burned with shame as horrible images flew through my mind.  Would I be sent to the principal’s office? Would I be spanked? Since my mother taught in the same building, there is no way I could keep being paddled a secret from Mother.  But after the moments stretched into minutes, I tearfully raised my hand and announced that I had indeed brushed by the tree and broken the ornament.  It was my fault.

Tearfully looking up, I saw compassion in Miss Dierness’ eyes.  She thanked me for acknowledging what I had done and then she went on with the regular classroom activities.  There were no angry words from her mouth, no pronouncement that I was the stupidest girl in the class, no forced march to the school office.  All I received was a thank you for saying the truth. I was stunned and speechless. 

Thank you Miss Dierness for loving this broken child who was terrified of adults and tended to indeed be very clumsy.  You showed me to that I could be loved and you began the process of mending this shattered child.  Thank you, Miss Dierness for introducing me to grace.