-One day at the "Tree of Life Before and After Care Program": a student and teacher sat at a table together. The two were both working on an art project as they talked to one another. Below is their following conversation:

Hey Miss Maya. How you doing today?

Just fine Grace. So what was with all that laughter going on at the other side of the room just now?

Just Miss Smackle telling new silly stories with Mr Farkle. She actually gets funnier the more you listen to her.

Well sometimes you just gotta be patient with some people, and in time: you realize how amazing they are.

Yeah. Unlike some people I know.

Uh, Grace… are you okay? Did something happen at school today?

Ugg… Something happens every day. There's this mean girl named Rachel I told you about who rides my bus. And she always pushes people out of her favorite seat on the bus.

Not just you, but everybody?

Yeah. But earlier this afternoon I forgot which seat she liked so I accidentally sat on it and… then she got all mad at me, and started saying a bunch of mean stuff to me.

Well that does sound pretty annoying.

Miss Maya… why do people have to be so mean? I mean, why do some people like to hurt others?

Well… you've just hit a deep question. And I don't have some simple general answer to that. But I have learned over time that if you wanna know what makes specific individuals act rude and say hurtful things, you have to get to know them better.

Get to know Rachel? But she's so mean.

And for all you know, maybe she's hurting. Look I don't know her but some people that are hurting: deal with their problems in not quite appropriate ways. There are individuals out there who feel sad inside and don't feel special. So to deal with that they take action to hurt others, so those people will feel sad and less special about themselves.

So you're saying that Rachel might be hurting and she just wants me to feel hurt too?

Again, I don't know. But maybe. There's always a bigger picture than meets the eye. Maybe something in her life is so messed up, the only way she can deal with it is by messing up other people's lives. That way hers doesn't look as bad in comparison.

So you're saying people whose lives are messed up sometimes just wanna mess up the lives of others?

Well, they shouldn't. But sometimes they do.

Then… then what could've been so messed up in my parents' lives that they would've wanted to mess up mine!?

Gr… Grace… where did this come from? How long has this been on your mind?

I… I've been thinking about it for a while now. I mean… one of the mean things that Rachel keeps saying to me is that I can't be special since I don't have parents, and… now I just keep wondering what happened to them. What was hurting their lives so much that they'd just wanna hurt mine? What was so messed up in their lives that they'd just abandon me when I was a baby?

Grace, I… I don't have an answer to that, and… I don't really know what to say. I had no idea this had been on your mind lately. But when it comes to feeling hurt, I remember my mother in law once told me…

Wait. Mother in law? That means you're not talking about your own mother but the mother of a person you're married to right?

Well… yeah.

Wait. Does that you're married Miss Maya? I didn't know that. Do you have any kids?

I… oh man. I…

What's wrong Miss. Maya? Are you not married? Are you divorced?

No. I… I am married. I… I have a wife named Riley. And we had a daughter named Erika.

Had?

Yeah. She died… just a little bit before she would've turned one. And just shortly after, something bad happened to my wife and… she's in a coma now. She's alive but she hasn't been able to wake up for about a year.

Oh my gosh. I am so sorry Miss Maya. I am so, so sorry.

No. Don't be sorry. It's me that should've been saying sorry to a lot of people I knew after it happened. When my daughter died, I was just barely able to hold myself together. But when I lost having Riley by my side… I started to get really angry. Whenever my family and friends would visit I started to say rude things in their faces and even yelled at them a couple of times. I felt like I had turned into an awful person.

But you're not an awful person Miss Maya. You're the nicest person in the whole wide world. You were just hurting.

Yeah. I was hurting, and I was confused for a while. But eventually with some help I was able to get my head back on straight. Now Grace, I don't know what causes people at your school to do the things they do to you, or what caused your parents to make the choices they did. But there always is a bigger picture. And maybe if you can find a way to look at it, you can discover a way to help those that are still around you that are confused and hurting get better. I know that's what helped me.

Hmm. I guess…

--The next day on a school bus, the girl known as Rachel came on and saw Grace was sitting in her favorite seat. The following conversation then occurred...

Hey Rachel. Get out of my seat!

Oh, you can have it Rachel. I was just saving it for you. Although I hope you don't mind if I sit in the seat next to you.

Why do you wanna sit in the seat next to mine?

Because I wanted to give you a picture.

Why do you wanna give me a picture?

I talked to a couple of the kids in your class and learned you had a best friend named Martha who moved away last year. After looking at the pictures of both of you in the school yearbook I drew a picture of both of you together. Here you go. What do you think?

This... this drawing... this is a picture of me and Martha on the bus together. How did you find...

Like I said: school yearbook. Was that you and Martha's favorite place to sit?

Well... yeah. It's where we had our best conversations. And when Martha moved away, I promised I would keep it our special seat forever. And it's only our special seat, okay?

That's okay. And it's nice… that you two were such good friends.

Yeah. Well... thanks for the picture Grace. It's nice and big.

You're welcome. I've recently learned that life can be a little better… when you take a look at the bigger picture.

END OF CHAPTER 7

Upcoming Chapters For the Series:

-Chapter 7: What Really Happened (Coming 5/7)

-Chapter 8: New Good Days (Coming 5/9)

-Chapter 9: Happy Mother's Day (Coming 5/11)