Hi my name is Ashley,
I used to work in Kegan's second grade class as an additonal Instructional Assistant. It was not with Kegan but another young boy. I did have the pleasure of spending some time with Kegan and I still cherish every moment and think about how he impacted my life in his own way:)
I remember one day after lunch, Everett, Kegan and I were headed to the playground to play. I had layed Everett on my side of the bench and let Kegan loose to play as I sat for a little bit. Kegan was playing around a pole and walking in continuous circles around it. Every turn he would stop and look at me and watch me. He eventually walked up to me and just stood in front of me. I started talking to him and he just looked at me, and then he put his hands to mine and was clapping them. We were playing our own little hand clap game. Kegan was so intrigued with it, as he always was with handclapping. We were smacking our hands like a patty cake rhythm and were just enjoying our time. Kegan was making noises, talking and getting excited. Then all of a sudden he just stopped. He grabbed my face and put both hands on my cheeks and was holding my face. He then got closer to my face and was just staring into my eyes. I sat there to see what he was doing and he held onto my face for a good 60 seconds. To this day i am mesmerized at the connection he was making with me and I've felt a strong connection with Kegan ever since.
Kegan that day showed me his love in a way that hit a place in my heart and I'll keep forever. Kegan would periodically grab my hand just to hold sometimes, also. I couldn't have been more happy to be a part of Kegan's life for almost that whole year of school, and met one of the smartest, wittiest, loving young boys to enjoy my time with. I did get to see a positive change that Everett made to Kegan. It has inspired me to possibly get a degree in specializing in Autism. I have only a picture of Everett but it was a down time I had when Kegan was watching stories on the computer that I attached to this email. I have now moved out of Crescent City, CA to further my career in school but I dearly miss Kegan.
I asked my mom almost everyday how he was doing and to give him a high five for me. She actually has done it almost everytime I've asked her. My mom drove Kegan on her bus when he was going to school in town instead of Smith River. My mom said Kegan was very good on her bus and was excited to have Everett on her bus too. I just wanted to tell you how grateful I am to have met and experienced some love from Kegan and I wish him the best future. I truly fell in love with this kid. I also saw his Kindegarten picture and that kind of pushed me over the edge;)
have a nice day,
with love ashley herrera
Hi my name is Priscilla and i drove Kegan on my bus for many years. Every morning i would pick him up hed b waiting outside patiently, when he had a seat id say hi keagan good mornng, and id make him make eye contact with me and say hi back or i wouldnt move the bus this was our routine every morning and he always said hi, i guess he knew i wouldnt move the bus, smart kid..haha.
ReplyDeleteOne morning i heard everett hit the ground and i thought he fell off his seat it scared me so i pulled over and told Everett to get back up on the seat, and he did, because he is an awesome dog and so as soon as he gets seated Kegan proceeds to push him off his seat and so I get everett back up on the seat several times trying this and failing and meanwhile Kegan is just laughing he thought it was hilarious, as this went back and forth for a while, and so finally i moved everett to the seat across from Kegan and Everett was so sad :( i felt bad for him,but Kegan was doing great he was fine . The next morning i told his dad what had happened because i thought something was wrong but dad said kegan just probably needed his space and i thought that "little stinker" and he was right he did it a few more times after that :)I just wanted to say It was a priviledge to have Kegan on my bus and because of him im a better person. I love u Kegan..