A Teary Goodbye to a Beloved Teacher

The kids had their last lesson with Elena today. Instead of a lesson, they watched Stuart Little in Spanish and ate popcorn. She brought them each a framed picture of the three kids in their Halloween costumes with Elena. She also brought them a Kinder Sorpresa. I made popcorn with butter and salt for Emma, kettle corn for Aidan and gave Ian a bag of Gublinos which are steak flavored corn snacks (since he doesn't like popcorn). I took a bunch of last pictures of them together, but Aidan refused to smile and kept making a sad face in all the pictures. Elena finally tickled him to get him to smile in at least one of them.

After the movie was over, Elena told us how much she didn't want us to go back to the States and that she was really going to miss the kids. She also told Collin and I that they kids are really well behaved and even though they complained sometimes during the lessons, they always did what they were told. Elena said that she was really impressed with how fast the kids picked up Spanish. She also said that she could tell that we raised them right because they are so well behaved and polite. She told me that we have been really kind to her and that she enjoyed eating dinner with us and sampling my cooking. We gave her a plate of cookies to take home.

Emma started crying first when it was time for her to leave and Elena was carrying her around begging her not to cry. Elena looked like she was about to cry any minute. I got really teary too. Then Aidan started crying and was sitting miserably on the couch by himself with his arms folded, chin to his chest. Ian kept declaring loudly that he was only going to miss Elena a little (but that was probably because she was teasing him a little about his fear of popcorn). Then a few minutes after she left, Ian all of the sudden blurted out, "I MISS HER!," and started crying really hard. Collin and Emma left to see Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, with Emma still crying and wanting to bring her framed picture to the movie theater. Aidan and Ian cried for a long time. Aidan kept saying, "Elena is like part of the family. I don't want to leave her behind. Mom, can't we just put her in a suitcase and take her with us?" They were carrying the framed picture she gave them around the house and crying. I kept telling them that I knew just how they felt and that it is always really hard to have to leave people you love behind. Elena told us that she wanted to stay in touch using Skype and to email her to tell her when we have landed safely in PA. Aidan and Ian both went to sleep hugging the framed pictures she gave them. Emma had hers on her nightstand table pushed right up to the edge of her bed so she could look at it as she fell asleep.

She has been the best thing for the kids here in Spain. She has helped them so much with their Spanish as well as their confidence in their ability to speak it. Elena also added an element of discipline and fun at the same time to the tutoring sessions with the kids. I am so glad that we found her when we did. I passed her number onto the new American family that moved here from Utah, I hope they are as good to her as she was to us. Hopefully, she'll still be around when we come back in a few years so she can tutor the kids again.