TINNY THE BUNNY
Suzy was a 9-year old girl. She was living in a nice cottage with her grandmother and her best friend, Tinny-the bunny. Tinny used to come every morning to her bed, lick her cheeks and ask her to play with him. He was loved, he was taken care of and most important he was considered an important member in their family. And for that he showed them his affection. But one day Suzy ran to her grandmother and said:
“Grandma, Tinny is nowhere! I searched everywhere for him, but nothing… I am so scared… What could have happened?” Her grandmother caressed her and convinced her Tinny would come back soon. But days went by and Tinny was still missing.
Suzy almost lost hope, so she was very sad, she didn’t even want to eat or play in the courtyard.
But after three weeks she felt a soft fluffy tail touching her hands: it was Tinny! She jumped to her feet and ran outside, hid behind her favorite oak and asked Tinny to tell her all that happened.
Tinny remembered that he was smelling some nice dandelions when he was suddenly caught by an eagle and carried far away, at the end of the forest. He was close to being eaten, but the eagle dropped him by mistake. When he found himself alone, he started searching for a path to come home. On the way he encountered a fox who promised to tell him the way if he could guess the answer to her question. Suzy smiled and listened carefully.
“What makes a good friend?” “I will answer to your question with only one word”, Tinny had responded, “If you want to understand friendship you should meet my sister, Suzy”. Hearing that, Suzy hugged Tinny happily and promised him they would never part again.
While returning home they met Foxy who had also come to find a true friend…
"What makes a good friend?" ...good question.It would be interesting to ask yourselves, but the most important ask your students.Have you noticed how simple and innocent their answers are? They don't need much, just companionship and fun and maybe sharing toys or their favorite cartoons, football player cards, Barbie dolls...
Later on,when we grow up we tend to ask more and more from a friend. We want them to understand us, we want them to be always there and maybe to turn a blind eye when we make mistakes.I have rarely seen a person appreciating a friend for trying to correct his/her error and I have continuously seen people choosing wealthy friends...just because money gives them status and security and maybe a better position later on in their career.
What is friendship after all? I guess the most important quality of a friend is to be honest to you and to himself, to value life and have a bit of decency while doing the one thing we must all perform: living...
...to have a purpose, to show respect and try to improve every day (or at least reflect upon our own mistakes or blunders) .What we really need is a solid branch that we we can cling on in our daily pursuit of happiness. Even though we might never reach the top of the tree we should still try and be that branch, the solid ground and the clear mind when our friend loses his own path, not because it looks good to do so, but because it can be a two-way street and we might find our own path while calling ourselves someone's friend.
I have always considered friendship the hardest and the most important lesson of a lifetime and I am still making my first steps into the subject.
I am happy to be surrounded by friends ('cause I do have friends), but I can't tell exactly what friendship is.
The best thing to do is look at my little students and try to learn from them...
