![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.zoe.browdy.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/Zoe-and-Mrs.-E-small.jpg\" "\\"Zoe")
<\/a><\/p>\nWhen I walked into Zoe’s classroom earlier this week and saw the white, empty walls – walls where colorful paintings and sayings were once happily displayed – I immediately got a sad, uncomfortable feeling in the pit of my stomach. I’ve always been a sentimental person (as a child, I would get sad at the end of each school year), but leaving Zoe’s first-grade class behind is particularly difficult. Simply put, her teacher is amazing: She has the unique ability of identifying each child’s talents and drawing from them, and she has nurtured and empowered the children, making each one feel like the most special in the classroom. This has been a year of incredible growth and happiness for Zoe, and it’s difficult to accept that it’s over.<\/p>\n
Today was Zoe’s last day, and there wasn’t a dry (adult) eye in the classroom this morning, as the parents read to the teachers a thank-you poem we had prepared for them. One of the lines I contributed was something alone the lines of the teachers giving my child (and our entire family) sweet memories that will last a lifetime. And I really mean it!<\/p>\n
-M<\/p>\n