Thanksgiving

       Camille, Susannah and I had Thanksgiving Dinner with Hugh's mother, brother and sister-in-law.  One of the stories we told was about Hugh taking Susannah to school every morning.  Hugh always took Susannah to school and he loved to walk her into her classroom each day.  Other parents simply let their children out in the carpool line, but Hugh always parked his car and walked Susannah all the way to the classroom.  The teachers began to encourage Hugh to let Susannah out in the carpool lane and let her walk to her classroom by herself, but Hugh kept on doing what he liked to do.  So the teachers came to me and gently suggested that Susannah was old enough to walk in by herself and perhaps Hugh should just drop her off in the carpool lane.  But Hugh continued to walk Susannah to her classroom.  The principal firmly suggested that Hugh should just drop Susannah off in the mornings, but Hugh kept doing what he wanted to do.  Hugh loved that time with Susannah and he loved seeing the other kids.  He didn't stop walking her to class until she started the 4th grade.  Looking back, I am glad that he didn't listen to teachers or principals or parenting books or me, and that he took that time to be with Susannah for a few extra minutes each day.