jenn's commentary

i miss stinky pete!

stinky pete was in my class for 3 years. funniest kid ever. EXCELLENT taste in music. and tv shows. made me laugh really really hard on many occasions.

there are a few defining moments in my relationship with pete -- not his actual name, just what i liked to call him -- that will always stay with me:

after school one day, i was getting my stuff together to head out and pete comes back into the classroom. i was, like, what'd you forget, man? and he shrugged and came over to my desk and said, i just wanted to talk to you cuz i had a fight with my friend and i don't know what to do to make it better.

how great is this kid?? he takes responsibility that so many adults won't. yeah, we fought so now we have to fix it. no avoidance. no pretence of innocence. just facing a situation straight up and taking care of business.

different day, we'd finished watching a movie and when the vcr was turned off, there was a world vision show on. a couple of kids wanted to watch it for a few minutes. ok... pete says, really quietly, "makes me see how lucky i am..."

pete's the kid on the easter seals telethon who makes OTHER people watching tv say "makes me see how lucky i am..."

another time pete comes over to me, middle of a kind of crappy day, and says jenn... can i have a hug?

no explanation. no conversational precursor. just "can i have a hug". love it.
love pete.