"what do you mean you won't be home tonight?"

"it's valentine's day!"
my husband pleaded.

yesterday morning,
the shorties and i
scarfed up some
heart-shaped pancakes.
(what better way to learn fractions?)

during my planning period,
on my maple-syrup-high,
i sat down to compose my
letter to our school board.
"dear jerkees..."

the shorties returned and
wrote their final drafts for the
letters that they are sending.
then...
after our valentine deliveries
and mouthfuls of chocolate,
the school day ended.
i gathered the many
heart-shaped boxes,
stuffed animals,
roses and balloons and,
along with my colleagues
raced to the board meeting.

all of our teachers were there.
our reading specialist, cafeteria manager,
social worker/counselor,
receptionist/school protector,
and HR manager, were there, too.

when our chosen teacher
went up to speak,
he simply said that we
need the funding to have a
full teaching staff.
"we wrote letters and would
appreciate it if you could read them."
he explained that we are a
small school, "one teacher per grade."

we walked up and handed our letters to each board member.
each of us had letters to deliver.
we piled them on
and peacefully left.

our words, our love, our hearts
were in those envelopes.
ripped open, i hope they released
some goodness into the hearts of their readers.

tomorrow, the shorties send theirs.