I sit cross-legged on the scuffed gym floor in a public elementary school in Springfield, Massachusetts. It is a Tuesday afternoon, and I have just arrived, ready to begin my regular volunteer shift—I visit the second-grade classroom once a week to provide academic support to students through a volunteer program at my college. As I wait for the students to finish their P.E. period and head back into their classroom to begin math work, one child—I will call her Valerie—breaks off from her peers, who are coasting across the room on small, multi-colored scooters, and sits down next to me. I have known Valerie for a few months now and we greet each other with friendly smiles. I ask her how she has been since I last saw her a week ago, expecting a quick “Good!” or a short story about her weekend activities. Instead she proceeds to share with me the news of a close family member’s death.
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