The last of my second-year students has his bar mitzvah this weekend. I know you’re not supposed to have favorites, but I confess that J. was always one of mine, even as he was one of my most challenging students. He has ADHD—for real, not the conservative “oh, he’s just a boy” thing—and he moves through life on a constant fast-forward. But he’s also one of the sweetest boys I have ever known. He’s the only b’nai mitzvah child that I noticed said “Thank you” to the rep from the religion committee when she presented him with his kiddush cup. I’m sure some of the others must have said it, but none as loudly and clearly as J.
He and his mother gave me a Hulk pinata towards the end of his year as my student. I have a collection of Hulk memorabilia from various students, parents, friends, and relatives. The pinata has not been smashed. It has been put away. J. likes to identify me to new people by telling them, “She likes the Hulk.” His class was during the year the movie came out, which explains their fascination with my fascination with the Hulk. B.’s mother gave me the Hulk Slim Jim canisters she’d bought from Costco (minus the Slim Jims). Now B. and I discuss comic books, to his mother’s great amusement.
I think one of the main reasons I get such a kick out of J. is because he’s so enthusiastic, about almost everything. His grandfather was telling him about a kiddush cup made from a twelfth-century souvenir from Israel that has been in their family for some time, and J. ran out of synonyms for “Cool!” before long. I told him the oldest things I own are nineteenth-century coins inherited from my father, and he thought that was cool, too.
Well. I think J. is way cool. I look forward to watching him grow up. I’m getting a real kick out of seeing all of them turn into young adults. And in four more years, my first class goes to college. Now that’s going to be cool.
Well done !