One of the boys I've written about here before was not at school today. In itself, not unusual. There are all kinds of reasons kids don't show up for preschool in the shelter on a given day.
He is an active, bright and cheerful boy who showed some unexplainable fears on a recent field trip. The other teachers knew about it, but with my once-a-week schedule, I'd never seen him running in terror from something so benign, like moving clouds on the ceiling of the Children's Museum. (Even my best monster act never fazed him.)
Today I found out he had some sort of seizure at nap time yesterday and was taken to the ER as a precaution. He's still at the hospital for testing.
I found out one more thing. One of his brothers was murdered; he was a twin, though I didn't catch whether he was the twin of my sweet little charge.
Oh, yes, environment is not destiny. But I wonder how many of those politicians giving us the lecture know these kids. Not just their statistics or their stories or their records, but them.
