The Courage of Children: Boston and Beyond XXXIII

AISLING ROYAL
AMY HIGGINBOTHAM AND RICHARD SCHENA, TEACHERS
Dennis C. Haley Pilot School, Boston, MA
Courage to me is to be able to advocate for myself without hesitation. To be
able to show people in the world that I can do this. Lots of people will say,
“Courage is just to be strong or brave.” But for me, I show courage in a
different way. I have to show courage many times in my life when people
insult my family.
“Did your dad go get the milk and never come back?” or, “What’s it like being
fatherless?” or, “Are you adopted?” These are the questions that I have to show
courage about. They are mean and hurtful to me because these questions ask
about my family. Ever since fourth grade, my family being a little bit different
has given people a topic to tease my twin sister and me about. Instead of my
family having one mom and one dad, my family has two moms!
On a sunny but breezy day earlier in the fall of this year, I was outside for an
elective class at school. The gym teacher said, “All right, let’s do our warmups,
then we can have free time.” Everybody obviously wanted free time, so
they did the warm-ups quickly. When that was done, all of the students in my
class split off into their friend groups. I decided to talk with some girls I had
never really talked to before. We were all having a great time, until somehow,
the topic started to lean towards talking about our families. I had no idea what
to say. I did not want to be teased. I stood there for a while and listened.
Eventually, I started to add things about my family. People were asking
questions in a nice way for a while. Then out of nowhere, a girl walked up to
me and said, “Hey Aisling, Where’s your dad?” Then she went to her friends
and started giggling, as if she was intending to be rude. I was in shock that I
had been teased again. At that moment, I was on the verge of crying. I stood
there trying not to cry for what seemed like forever. I tried to think of exciting
things, but it was impossible. One of the girls in the group tried to make sure
I was okay. As time went on, tears started to drip from my eyes. I tried my
hardest to show courage at that moment.
“I AM EXTREMELY
PROUD TO HAVE MY
MOMS IN MY LIFE, AND
I HAVE LEARNED TO
HAVE THE COURAGE
TO NOT CARE WHAT
ANYBODY THINKS OF
MY BEAUTIFUL FAMILY.”
I was silent for a moment. I really wanted to run out of the school and go home.
“SHE INSULTED ME ABOUT NOT HAVING A DAD!” I screamed, as I
started to sob. The gym coach realized what was happening. He walked me into
the principal’s office. When I was there, I talked about how badly it hurt to be
insulted that way. About ten minutes later, somebody brought in the girl who
had teased me. I wiped my eyes before talking again.
The principal said to me, “Tell her how bad it hurts inside.” I started to tear up
again. Eventually, I gained the courage again to talk, and I explained in full
detail why I was so upset.
After we had a long conversation and the girl was forced to apologize, I went
back to class. Nobody really spoke of what happened. I was glad, because I
could focus on other things instead of sitting in the principal’s office and crying.
Like I said at the beginning of my story, being insulted has happened to me
many times. To this day, I know that people will be curious when I tell them
I have two moms. But I have built up the strength to show people I don’t
care if they make fun of me. I am extremely proud to have my moms in my
life, and I have learned to have the courage to not care what anybody thinks
of my beautiful family.
I walked away. I made my way to a bench far from the field. I sat there for a
while trying to calm myself. Eventually the gym coach came up to me and
asked me, “What’s wrong?”
THE COURAGE OF CHILDREN: BOSTON AND BEYOND
VOLUME XXXIII
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