I got an email Friday morning from my daughter, Karin, telling me that Aaron made it to the final round of the spelling bee for fourth grade. Friday would be the last round before he could win. He had his heart set on winning and was determined not to let one particular student win over him.
"If he wins, I get to go watch him in the school spelling bee," she wrote.
Friday morning he told her he wished he could call her to tell her what happened, but they all knew the results would have to wait until after school.
I called their house around 4 pm to see how he had done and to congratulate him on getting so far in the bee and hopefully for winning it. The boys had already gone to their Grandma Jackie's house and no on answered. I would have to wait to see what happened.
A while later I got a call from Karin who seemed distressed. "Aaron didn't win," she said. "He wanted it so bad. Some of the kids in his class asked the teacher if they could give their place to Aaron if he misspelled a word before them. She explained that wasn't allowed. Another classmate, Nick, said if it was between him and Aaron he would spell the word wrong so Aaron could win."
It sounds to me like Aaron had a lot of friends rooting for him.
"He made it to the final three. Guess who won?" Karin asked.
"The student he wanted to beat the most?" I guessed.
Wrong answer. "Nick?" I tried again.
"No. Worse than that. Andrew beat Aaron out," Karin said with a heavy heart.
"Andrew? I didn't know he was still in the final round," I exclaimed with a smile on my face.
"Me either," Karin replied, "but somehow he was still in for his class."
"Wow that's great!" I said. I was so proud of both of my grandsons and one of them had won.
"No it's not Mom! Aaron said he felt worthless and was so disappointed."
How does a mom handle a situation like this? One son wants something so bad and the other son, his twin brother, takes it away from him. Should she cheer for Andrew or have heartbreak for Aaron? I think she felt both but didn't know how to show either emotion without hurting one of her sons.
Being a mom, a diplomat, a cheerleader, and a shoulder to cry on all at once is a big responsibility.
Congrats to both Aaron and Andrew for going so far in the spelling bee. Karin will get to watch the school spelling bee but without Aaron in it.
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