By Stephanie Osorio
Once upon a time, there was a city by the beach called Long Beach. This city was filled with people of all ages, sizes, colors, and religions, but this particular story is about the children of Long Beach.
To learn about the world around them, every child had a teacher that taught them about everything. They would go to school and learn how to be creative and free with their art, how to be gentle and kind with their friends, and how to count by 2s, 5s, and 10s. But what the children didn’t know was that their teachers were actually helping them sew a magical quilt inside themselves. You see, with every new lesson, with every new friend, with each piece of art they made, a new patch in the magical quilt inside them was made. It was a beautiful quilt, filled with love, kindness, and sunlight.
One day, a very mean and nasty germ came into this world. It was a germ that no one had ever seen before. It would hide in people and make some very sick. Jumping from person to person, from hands to face. The only thing that could stop it was washing hands with soap and water and not touching your face.
But sometimes it still was able to jump, so all the wisest people made a decision that it would be better for everyone to stay home. They said: “We all must stay home and not let this germ jump from one person to the next. We must wear masks and not touch things outside our homes. It will feel like a long time, and we will miss each other, but we must do it to keep everyone safe and healthy.”
So, one day, all of the children of Long Beach went home, and all of their magical quilts went home with them. And the parents exclaimed “Oh my, what is this?! I have never quilted before! How will we do this?” But their teachers had a plan. They said, “Fear not dear parents, for we can send home everything you need to continue sewing this quilt. Every day we’ll send you a needle, thread, and a patch.” But the parents still cried “But I don’t know how to teach! and I still have my own work to attend to! Some of us are doctors, architects, software engineers, and businesswomen!”
The teachers said, “Do not dismay, for your children are already quite bright and they are also very patient and understanding. They know that sometimes you need to stop quilting and attend to your own work. They are very good at keeping their hands busy, their hearts open, and their head thinking.” So, for a good long while, even into the hot summer months, the parents continued to help sew these magical quilts with their children. And they indeed got better at it and learned to love it.
Before long, the brilliant scientists came up with a way to get rid of all the nasty germs and one by one people came out of their homes. When the heat of the summer began to give way to colder days, the class came together again.
Their teachers were so pleased to see all of the children in person again. And they marveled at the beautiful quilts. The parents were so grateful to have experienced this unusual way of learning and were surprised to see that they too had magical quilts inside them. And now every child and every parent had a beautiful patchwork quilt inside them filled with even more love, kindness, and sunlight
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