Amy was a girl who came into our classroom. She had many things wrong with her. Amy was in a wheelchair, and she couldn't talk. She couldn't make her hands and feet do what she wanted them to do. We wondered why Amy would even be in our class, because she really couldn't do much of anything. Amy had a teaching assistant who had to stay with her all the time. One day the teaching assistant got called away. I had to look after Amy. I was afraid to look after her. I really didn't know what to do. I sat beside Amy, and I smiled at her. She smiled back at me. I never realized before that she had such a nice smile. Amy made a noise. It seemed like she wanted a crayon that was lying beside her. I put the crayon into her hand. She had trouble holding it, but eventually she got the crayon into her hand well enough so that she could make marks on the paper that was on the tray in front of her. Amy spent a long time making marks on the paper. She tried so hard to create whatever it was that she was drawing. She worked for a long time. I just watched her, and I gave her a lot of credit for not giving up when she obviously had so many problems. When she was finally done, she picked up the paper with great difficulty. With a look of pride on her face, she handed me the picture. It was for me. I was very touched that she spent all that time drawing something for me. I thanked Amy and smiled at her. I told her I loved the picture. I still have that picture, although I'm not sure what it is a picture of. I learned a lot from Amy that day. I saw a brave girl who wouldn't give up. Whenever I think my problems are too big to handle, I think of Amy and I remember her smile.
