Member-only story
The Mask of Happiness:
When is it okay to let it fall?
by Bonnie Ann Lieberman
What I learned about grief, friendship, and the courage to let someone see the real me.
There’s an old truism: People are attracted to smiling faces.
I learned the power of that observation about 36 years ago. And the lesson has stayed with me ever since.
It was my first day at a new school. The children wouldn’t arrive for another three days, so the staff had gathered for training and preparation.
I had been assigned to a first-grade classroom, and I felt like the new kid on the block. Everyone else seemed to know one another, sharing jokes and stories as though they had been friends forever.
Someone joked that time flies, but only during school vacations.
There was also a little collective prayer that a particular boy, known for bullying and threatening others, would settle down in his new school setting.
After all, this was an educational institution whose slogan was “Kindness Rules.”
One teacher enthusiastically declared, “Rock on!”
Another echoed, “Rock on!”
Soon, several men and women were cheering, coffee cups raised in a toast.
