"Am I Ugly?" by Michele Peck

“Kind words are like honey-sweet to the soul and healthy for the body.” Proverbs 16:24

Samantha was an eight-year-old student who had endured things already in her short life that none of us would ever wish upon anyone. Not only that, but she had been retained in first grade, which rarely happens in schools these days. Even though she was a year older than most of my students, she was smaller, and school continued to be extremely difficult for her. On some days, Samantha’s mood was happy and light. On others, it was sad and dark. On the light days, she persevered, even though it was difficult work. On the dark days, she challenged me to become more creative, patient and compassionate.

I remember one day when our morning had been particularly rough. We had had unexpected visitors in our classroom, and our already tight schedule was now even tighter. I took a seat at the front of the room, ready to call my students to the carpet when Samantha’s hand went up.

“Yes, Samantha?” I said.

“Can I come and tell you a secret?” she said with a frown on her face. I looked around. All 24 sets of eyes were on me, waiting for my response.

I began to have an inner dialogue that went something like this, “We’re short on time. No telling how long this might take. But it seems like she needs to say something. But I probably need to model that secrets are not polite. Ugh, look at that little face. She has something on her mind that she needs to talk about.” Something told me that I should take the time to hear her secret, so I called her up.

Have you had a child whisper in your ear lately? They carefully cup their hands, look around to make sure that nobody is going to hear, and then fill your ear with 50% sound and 50% humidity. She whispered, “Am I ugly?”

This was not what I expected. I responded, “Oh, no, sweetheart. You are beautiful, but why do you ask?”

“It’s these freckles,” she replied, “I think they make me look ugly.”

Heartbreaking, wanting to grab her and hold on tight and take away everything life has dealt her, I say, “Oh, Samantha, those are kisses from the sun. The sun has sprinkled kisses all over your nose and cheeks and made you beautiful.”

She put her hands to both cheeks, looked up at me, and smiled. She skipped back to her desk and sat down, ready to learn.

Since that day, when I see Samantha in public, she automatically puts both hands on her cheeks and smiles at me. It is a conversation the two of us will never forget. For me, it is a reminder that my words are powerful. As Mother Teresa said, “Kind words can be short and easy to speak, but their echoes are truly endless.”