Nine.

Find yourself in this Advent story.

A while back, I subbed in the local elementary school. One day that I'll never forget, a new girl was in a sixth grade classroom. The kids were cruel to her, right in front of me. It was so unfair. Why did they pick on her? Who was going to stand up for her? That night I called the teacher and told her about the day. I told her I wanted to come back in and work with the class at some empathy and brainstorming new responses. So I did. We talked about what it felt like to be new, and putting yourself in another's shoes and kindness. I lost track of the girl but thought I saw her once at a local store.

Fast forward eight years. I'm in the jail running a jewelry class. A young woman comes up to me and says, "I'm not sure what to do here." It was her. The girl they picked on. "Do you remember me?" I said. "I was your sub in sixth grade." She recognized me but didn't remember from where. Later, I said, "Do you remember the day I subbed? The kids were picking on you and I stood up for you?" "No," she said. "But they've always been mean to me. I changed schools and still had problems. To this day, people are still mean to me and I don't get it." "I'm sorry," I said. "What is with that?" We talked a little more, made some jewelry, and moved on. I'll be seeing her over the next few months.