Remembering Gregory

I just got some sad news. Gregory, one of my former students, passed away yesterday. I had Gregory in my class for two years and he was a very special guy. He loved to laugh and joke around with me and my other students. One of the clearest memories I have of Gregory is one day when I was transferring him from his wheelchair to a bean bag chair (one of his favorite places to be) and he bit me. I had some aggressive students that year but Gregory was not one of them. Gregory had been in pain from a condition he had that year and when he hurt, he clenched his teeth. It just happened that when the pain hit and he clenched his teeth on this day, my arm was there. I was so surprised, I yelled out. When I got Gregory into the bean bag chair, the look of remorse on his face was plain to see. Gregory couldn't tell me he was sorry, but the look on his face made it clear that he was sorry. Gregory was like that. What he couldn't communicate in words, he communicated in smiles and facial expressions. Gregory made it clear whether he liked a person he was with by his facial expressions. Fortunately, I was one of the lucky ones that he liked. I will miss Gregory a lot and I hope that he is now at peace. Unfortunately, this is not the first time I've lost a student. In my line of work, it happens frequently. I just hope I made a difference with Gregory while he was still here.