One of Mom's friends called me a few weeks ago with the most amazing story. I am never yet am continuously surprised by the breadth and depth of Mom's touch to so many people. This one was something we just never expected.
Mom has taught all kinds of students throughout her career. She taught children who have grown up to live wonderfully productive lives as teachers, photographers, airline dispatchers, even an NBA player and now college basketball coach, and so many other careers. She taught Gifted and Talented students, Advanced Placement, Honors, Remedial, Home-Based, English as a Second Language, adults, preteens, teenagers. Through all these groups there are always the smart students, the truly gifted, some that work hard, and some that don't care. Some students have grown up in circumstances that would scare most of us. As children, they've faced situations that we, as adults, will never be able to fully comprehend.
This story is about one of those students.
It must have been about 2003 or 2004 when Mom had Russell in her classroom, probably as a 7th or 8th grader at North Richland Middle School. He was not an easy kid - he had a hard life, mom was a drug addict and dad was in and out of prison. He ran the streets, he hung with the wrong crowd. He was in and out of detention and juvenile facilities. And then when Russell was 15 years old, he and several of his friends were together, doing nothing good, when he shot and killed a 19 year old man outside of Hurst Junior High in February 2008. Russell is currently serving a 24 year sentence for capital murder in a Texas prison.
I suppose it is possible over the course of a long career, but I don't think Mom had ever taught a murderer before. Not knowing the whole story, just being aware of the horror of a vicious crime so close to home, I remember one night at dinner several years ago being stunned when Mom talking about how one of her former students was accused of committing murder. A student who had been in her classroom, who she had graded papers for and talked personally with, who she had made a connection with and saw a light in his eyes. She and her fellow teachers Beverly Barfield and Lisa Edmunds understood Russell had it hard at home, and they tried to make a difference for him at school. I remember Mom being so very sad that night at dinner, commenting how Russell just never had a chance, he was born into a situation that there was just no getting out of.
I've thought of that part of Russell's story many times. How can a kid from a relatively "safe" (I thought) part of town grow up to be a murderer? Why did he do it? Did he think about it before? Did he think about it at school? In my mom's classroom?! These horrible questions have gone through my mind and I'm quick to think maybe, yes, probably, who knows? Who knows what is in the mind of a student who has no secure family life, no stability, no trusted adult figure to model except for a handful of teachers he gets to see for maybe an hour each day for a few months out of his deeply troubled life. I'm forever grateful no violence took place in the school, but I do think..it really could have.
Fast forward to August 4th, when I received a voicemail from Beverly saying she and Lisa had something to share with mom. The "something" is from Russell, it's a gift for Mom.
I just cannot believe that Russell, after all these years, is still a part of Mom's life. Through the grace and faith of Beverly and Lisa, who have been the only 2 visitors Russell has received in prison since he turned 16, Russell has something to live for, has emotions to share and be shared with, can safely show caring for someone else. He has commented that no one came and visited him, they "gave up" on him in prison after he got into even more trouble behind bars. But Lisa and Beverly coming back into his life through letters and through visits, have opened Russell back into the world. He has the will and encouragement to get out of the lowest level of the prison because he knows someone outside cares for him. Maybe for the first time in his life, people are showing Russell love, and maybe because there is nothing else he can do, he's taking the time to feel and express it himself.
Lisa and Beverly reached out to Russell after many years, and while it's really better to read in Lisa's blog the whole story, the short part of it here is that they have told him about Mom's illness, and Russell expressed how sorry he is for how he acted in class, and how much he hopes Mom will recover. He asks about her at every visit, and he wanted to give her a gift, and so he created a piece of art for Mom.
It's a handkerchief with beautifully drawn hearts, a cross, and clouds, and it has graceful script written on it: "Get Well Soon." Russell truly has a gift with the pencil, maybe in earlier years he was a graffiti artist...I can't help but think that. When he is allowed to have a job maybe he could be a calligraphist, he's really that good.
After 18 months (or so) months of good behavior, he now has a roommate now for the first time. The roommate can't read. So guess what Russell is doing? He's continuing to learn from his North Richland Middle School teachers, who continue to teach him even now that he's 20 years old. He is teaching his roommate....how to read.
If you're interested in Lisa and Beverly's journey with Russell, please visit Lisa's blog. She has given me permission to share it here. http://edmundsensemble.blogspot.com/2011/09/seven-years-ago.html
