ABSTRACT
I don’t remember what day of the week it was, which month, or the exact time of day, but I do remember that from an invitation to narrate an experience from his life came a moment in which time stood still—a moment in which we existed together. I wasn’t alone, and neither was he. My invitation for Eli was simple: “hey, what happened?” I had been afforded the pleasure of being a guest in a kindergarten classroom in Harlem, New York during their morning meeting, a daily ritual when students respond to prompts about their lives. Today’s prompt was about feelings and, Eli, the last to respond, hesitantly whispered that he was sad.
