I love my job.

Great story from today.... the last day of school.

2nd grade student... an awesome kiddo who totally marches to his own unseen drummer. Carries learning gifts and learning challenges. Big, bright, sensitive eyes. Very, very slight frame. Shoes rarely tied. Usually several steps behind, enjoying his own tempo to life. He's managed a lot of life in his short time on this planet.... hard stuff you wouldn't want your kids to have to manage.

I'll call him Sam... to protect his awesomeness, so he isn't swamped by paparazzi.

Anyway --- I see him in the hall today after school.

"Hi, Sam. It's nice to see you. I hope you have a nice summer."

"Hi, Miss Kelly!!!" (celebrity sighting voice) "Can I show you something?"

"Of course. I love to see 'somethings'."

He rifled through a plastic shopping bag filled with odds and ends and pulled out a tiny slip of paper.

“This was my favorite spelling word this year.” He handed me a scrap that said “uncommon”.

“Wow. That’s a pretty great word. What do you like about it?”

“Uncommon? It’s just cool.”

“I agree. Hey - do you know what you are?”

“Me?”

“You’re uncommon. In the very best way.”

“Me? I’m ‘U.C.’?!”

“Yes. That’s one of my favorite things about you.”

“Really?”

I’m thinking to myself – This is great. This kiddo needs every positive message he can get. I’m glad I stopped the 17 things I was doing to have this moment. It’s important to keep reinforcing it.

And then he checked me and put off my game … as my kids often do… in the very best way.

“But… I thought I was legendary!”

Me… struggling to keep a straight face and not just scoop him up and put him in my pocket to take him home for the summer. “Well, sure… that’s a great thing to be too. I wonder if sometimes it takes a while to become legendary. Maybe you have to be on the planet for a while to get there.

What do you think?”

“Well, I’m definitely epic.”

“That’s a great thing to be too, Buddy.”

“Of course, I’m rare, too.”

“You sure are.”

“Bye!”

“Bye, Sam.”