Gabe's class studied the life cycle of chickens. They got eggs and an incubator and studied the process all the way through to the chicks being about a week old. One presumes they were then taken to a farm, but I don't really know for sure. They had 12 eggs, all labeled and used candling to see inside the eggs to learn about the development. Most of the eggs actually hatched overnight so the did not see a lot of the hatching process, but as you can imagine they were so excited when the eggs hatched.
But "Baby G" did not hatch. It was the only one that did not make it. Last night Gabe was talking to me about it because he was a little sad that all the chicks were taken away yesterday (even though they knew it was coming).
Gabe said, "Some of the kids think we need to have a funeral for Baby G."
"Oh," I said, "it is a little sad that the egg didn't hatch."
Gabe replied, "Yes, but we shouldn't have a funeral. It's not right."
"Okay. Why not?"
"Because a funeral is for some one who died. How can you have a funeral if they have never lived?" he said.
I was taken aback by his wisdom. I replied that I agreed and said, "It sounds like everyone is just a little sad about Baby G not making it. It just helps to talk about it, and that's okay too."
Given the politics surrounding Planned Parenthood and other women's rights, abortion and the importance of its availability has been on my mind. What struck me so much during this conversation is that although we have never had a conversation with him about abortion, it amazed me the clarity this seven year old kid has that adults don't seem to have. The thing that is always missing on both sides of the conversation is that there is a very real difference between realized life and potential life. Until that is part of the conversation, there really isn't a conversation is there? Denial in abundance, but no real discussion. I guess this is why they say "Out of the mouths of babes..."
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