Notes: Thanks to Mari and Sammy for being their always awesome selves. Special thanks to Mari for the assist!
Readers and REAL McRollers - Thank you for your amazing support! It is always appreciated.
Hope you enjoy!
Born and Made (A McRoll in the REAL World Story)
"And we drew some symbols, too, like anchors for our family members who were in the Navy," DJ explained as he pointed to different areas of the family tree. "And we drew badges for the ones who are police."
"You have a lot of both in your family," Mr. Francis noted with a smile.
DJ nodded. "We do," he said proudly, and beside him Angie smiled, nodding along.
"Well, I think this is outstanding," the teacher said genuinely. "I can see why your parents wanted to frame it." He smiled up at Catherine and Steve who had arranged a few minutes before school to show first Angie's teacher and then DJ's the family tree the kids had made.
"It was all their idea," Catherine said, squeezing DJ's shoulder and brushing a hand over Angie's hair.
"And their hard work," Steve added with a proud smile.
"We had to get the big box of markers because we wanted to use a different color for each part of our family, and there are lots of parts," DJ said. He straightened, smiling. "Because our family is born and made."
Steve dropped a hand on his shoulder and squeezed.
Mr. Francis cocked his head thoughtfully. " 'Born and made,' " he repeated slowly, trying out the phrase.
"Yeah. That means some of our family is related by blood, and some because of other reasons, but we love them all either way and they love us."
"That's a really beautiful way of looking at family," Mr. Francis said.
"We think so, too," Steve said.
"Thank you so much for sharing this with me," he continued, looking at DJ and Angie. "I love the initiative you took making your own family tree, the organized way you went about it, and the fantastic final project. But I really love how proud you both are of both your project and especially of your family."
DJ and Angie smiled at each other, both beaming.
"Couldn't have said it better myself," Catherine said, bending down to kiss both kids.
Steve checked his watch as they started to hear more noise outside in the hall. "We should get going, school is going to start soon. You ready to head back to class, Angie?" he asked, holding out a hand.
"Very very ready!" she said. She waved to her brother's teacher. "Bye, Mr. Francis!"
"Bye, Angie. Always good to see your smiling face."
She hugged her brother. "See you after school, DJ!"
He smiled. "See you after school."
Angie held her other hand out to Catherine, waiting patiently while her parents kissed DJ goodbye. Steve picked up the framed family tree in his free hand.
"Thanks again for bringing it in," Mr. Francis said.
"Thanks for indulging us," Catherine said. "The kids were really eager to show you and Mr. Seftas."
"I'm honored, really," he replied, and they could all tell he meant it.
As the fourth graders were clearing their lunches away in the cafeteria before heading out for recess, DJ noticed his teacher step into the doorway and catch his eye, waving him over.
"Hey, DJ, I'm sorry to cut into your recess time, but I wanted to talk to you about something," Mr. Francis said. When DJ looked a little nervous, his teacher was quick to reassure him. "Nothing's wrong, I promise. I just had an idea I was hoping you could help me with."
DJ smiled, relaxing. "Sure." He looked over to where his best friend Michael was hovering by the door to the playground and waved to him. "I'll meet you outside," he called.
While the rest of his classmates filed outside, DJ followed his teacher back to their classroom, taking the seat Mr. Francis indicated by the teacher's desk.
"I've been thinking more about the family tree you and your sister made," he began. "And I was thinking that it could be a good project for our class."
DJ's eyes widened. "The whole class?"
"The whole class," his teacher repeated. "I really like what you said about how family can be both born and made. I think that's a really wonderful way to define a family, and I think some of your classmates would really benefit from hearing about it."
"You do?"
"I do. And I was hoping that you might help me plan the project and maybe even present it to the class."
If possible, DJ's eyes widened even more. "You want me to help plan it and tell everyone?"
"Yes, I do. You're really becoming a leader in our class, and I can tell this is something you're very passionate about. I think you would be the perfect messenger for this and your classmates would really respond."
A smile spread slowly across DJ's face, particularly at being called a leader. He knew that was a word often used to describe both of his parents.
"So …" Mr. Francis said. "What do you say? Will you help me? It will mean missing a recess or two while we plan."
"That's okay," DJ said immediately. "I don't mind missing recess for something important like this."
"You know, that's the kind of thing a leader would say."
DJ sat up straighter at that, beaming.
"So," Mr. Francis said, passing DJ a pen and paper. "Let's start planning."
A few days later, DJ stood at the front of his class, his and Angie's framed family tree propped up on an easel beside him, explaining the project as he and Mr. Francis had developed it.
"Are there any questions?" DJ asked, once he had finished his presentation.
Ashley raised her hand. When DJ called on her she smiled and pointed to the chart. "How come there's a goat on your family tree? He's really cute, does he live in your house?'
DJ grinned and glanced at his chuckling best friend before looking back at Ashley. "That's Felix, he's my sister's goat … kind of. He doesn't live with us, but my Uncle Danny got Angie a sponsorship two years ago and she loves Felix so much, we include him as kind of an extra pet, even though he lives at the zoo. She even had a goat birthday party this year."
"She did," Michael confirmed. "I was there. Even the cake had goats on it."
"That's even cuter," Ashley said. "Your family's so fun, DJ."
He smiled and nodded his full agreement. "Thanks. I think so, too,"
"I've got 26 cousins," a boy named James said, "but I think you have a bigger family than me, DJ. How many brothers and sisters do your mom and dad have?"
"Mommy's an only child, and my daddy's got one sister, my Aunt Mary, but we have lots of family because we have so many relatives of the heart, like my Nonna in New Jersey calls them." He waved a hand towards the poster. "Like Uncle Danny. He's like my daddy's brother, but not by blood. They're brothers because they're best friends and love each other like brothers who are related. So Uncle Danny's family is our family and our family's his family. Lots of them live in New Jersey, but him and Aunt Gabby and Grace, she's the cousin who did my awesome baseball birthday party, remember? They live right here."
"That's cool," James said, his eyes tracing the chart. "And your Auntie and Uncle are cousins?"
"Yeah, Auntie Kono and Uncle Chin are cousins because her mom and his dad are brother and sister. They're our Aunt and Uncle because they're family to my daddy from being on the task force with him since before me and my sister were even born."
"Your idea was great, I'm gonna use pictures of all my family and ohana when I do my family tree."
"Me, too," a girl named Maya chimed in. "I got family here and on the big island."
"Hey, Mr. Francis," Michael's hand was in the air. "You know what would be super cool? If you did a family tree, too."
"Yeah!" "That'd be great." "Can you?" several voices of his students chimed in.
"You know what?" Their teacher placed a hand on DJ's shoulder. "I think I will." He looked out at the class. "Does anyone have any questions about the family tree project?"
A boy named Justin raised his hand. "So we can include people who aren't like … our blood relatives?"
DJ looked at Mr. Francis to answer, but his teacher nodded encouragingly for him to take the lead.
"Definitely," DJ told his classmate. "That's a really important part of the project. My family believes that family is born and made. Family are the people who love and support you, and who you love and support, no matter how they became part of your life."
"Well said, DJ," Mr. Francis said. "We designed this project to help highlight the people in your life who love and support you."
"And to celebrate them," DJ added. "That's why we're doing the family tree project now, so we can have them ready and display them for the family picnic."
There was a collective gasp of excitement from several members of the class at that.
DJ again looked at his teacher, but Mr. Francis took a step back with a smile, confident that his student knew what to do next.
"Okay," DJ said to his classmates. "We have some worksheets that can help you brainstorm who you want to include on your family tree." He smiled broadly. "Let's get started."
Hope you enjoyed!
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