Speaking to my aunt Janice is always like a refreshing boast of confidence. Whenever I’m unsure of my direction in life, she always seems to give me that nudge in the right direction. Glancing at her life and seeing how her passion for children has led her have an extremely happy career as an elementary school teacher, has always acted as a huge support for my own personal goals. During one of our weekly gabfests I was reminded of just how special she was, not only to me, but also to her students. She boasted with so much pride on an event that occurred in her class recently.

A wasp that tragically wandered into her class, met his fate by the slamming of a classroom door. It turns out the executioner of this creature was my aunt, and upon discovery of the incident her class began to deem her a murderer. Being a muse of creativity and quick-witted charm, my aunt used this situation as a medium to flex the children’s writing muscles. What seemed like an image crushing blow for her, turned into one of the proudest moments as a teacher she has ever witnessed. Assigning her class to construct a multitude of eulogies, poems, and songs led to a created funeral service for the poor diminished stray. Not only was a piece of her humanity reestablished in the eyes of the tiny beings she loved, their writing and creativity flourished. This event seemingly was brought on by the death of a rejected insect.

Upon first hearing her reflection of this event, I could only marvel in deep respect for the amount of love and energy she puts into her work. However, I began to float on  not only the obviously intelligent actions of my aunt, but also the overlooked feeble compassion those children held. Many could quickly jump to the idea that they were just children, and their reaction was purely based on Disney inspired responses. Yet one must start to wonder if not for the wasp, what led to the feverish growth of their writing that day? If not for the tossed life of an unknown living being, then for what?

Is it because every kids cartoon on television says they have to behave in that manner, or was there truly a deep sense for the loss of life? Sometimes people amaze me with the amount of beauty they over look in life. Magical situations are sometimes easily marked and covered simply by intelligence or reason. One of the tiniest insignificant beings, held such an influence to these young humans, that their emotion and curiosity were sparked by it. To be that lowly, frail, and unable to communicate, yet have even the slightest impact on another, to me seems incredible.

So in this one must speculate whether or not his or her lives could affect someone in a similar way. In a way, that some complete stranger would notice your life in such a manner, that their lives would be forever changed, even if just for a day. This wasps (they later would name Charlie) life was so important that he gave those children a gift that day. He made them feel and see the true beauty in his simple life, no matter how small it may have been. It was most likely not his intentions to set out that day to be a martyr for their creative benefit, but it happened.

In reflecting on this I started to think, maybe that beauty does not lie in the ability for one to be notice, or to set out to make their lives have such an impact on another. Maybe it’s by displaying the beauty in another’s life that truly gives the being meaning. It was not Charlie the wasp that created this last amount of grandeur for his life, but it was because of the kids and their compassion that truly gave light to the greatness of this small creature.

One of my favorite quotes from Einstein says “The life of the individual only has meaning insofar as it aids in making the life of every living thing nobler and more beautiful. Life is sacred, that is to say, it is the supreme value to which all other values are subordinate.” My aunt’s devotion to those children, despite the long hours and pay, has lead to a remarkable influence over them. The beauty placed on the wasp, and in the children’s mind, was all created by one passionate teachers’ will to develop and live for another.

With this I set out to be more like these children who were so humble. Also to be more so like my aunt Janice, whose love and dedication to the minds of her students has created beauty for many lives in the future. Learning from her actions, maybe I can give life to another like her, by displaying the beauty of it and possibly gaining my own from it.

Photo by Al Fed