Ode to Joy

The tremendous weight of being a Kindergarten teacher has been lifted, and not only that, but in the end, my class really did transform, and while I'm not quite sure how I did it, and decidedly sure that I don't want to try it again, I am grateful for the feeling of accomplishment that lingers.
At the year-end assembly today, the 2nd and 3rd graders read Shiller's poem (in German) on which Beethoven based choral part of his 9th symphony. I had extreme goosebumps throughout their reading and I called to mind the image from the movie Immortal Beloved where the young Beethoven, having escaped the anger of his father, is foating on his back in the water, gazing at the night sky that is reflected all around him. This child who experienced such pain never lost his capacity to express joy. I love that piece and remember singing it in German for an assembly myself as a child. I wished as I listened to the children speak, that I had a copy of that piece somewhere. Just hours later while cleaning out my classroom, I came across the music in a pile that the teacher before me had left.