Monday, October 27, 2008

The old yeller dog

I cried in front of my homeroom class today.

At the end of every day we have Read Aloud, where I read a chapter book to them. It's my special time of the day with my homeroom. We sit on the carpet at the reading center, we turn off the lights except for a cozy lamp, and they sometimes draw what they "see" in their heads. For the past three weeks, we've been reading Old Yeller. I told them early on that I was probably going to cry at the end, which wasn't giving anything away, since the main character tells you on the very first page that he kills his dog.

Knowing we were almost to that part today, my eyes had already glanced ahead at the exact part on the page where it happens. So there I am, two paragraphs before, having to stop and take deep breaths. Of course some of the kids thought it was amusing that I was getting upset, while others were chastising the ones who were making fun of me! And then there was the little girl sitting at my feet who was crying before I was. But I trudged on and with my voice breaking up read the line, "so I put the gun to his head and pulled the trigger." Here came the tears! I was thankful for the dimmed lights - ha.

But seriously, what is it about a dying dog that brings out more emotion than a dying human?

3 comments:

DeeBee said...

I think dogs are dependent on us for things, much like babies. Don't you think we feel so much more for those who need us? Poor yeller. I hope that girl in your class is keeping up with the story. :-)

Unknown said...

And that truly unconditional love they have. People claim they have it, but come on...not like dogs! ha. And I know which girl you're talking about - what a dork. No telling what she thinks happened. :-)

DeeBee said...

I've come to BOO!! you. You can visit my blog to see what I'm talking about.