"You're Wonderful" By Debbie Clement

Cedar City, Utah. Thursday, Dec. 9, 2010.

Imagine my surprise when Sheila concluded her sight-seeing tour of St. George and began whisking us north, toward her home in Cedar City, the two of us chattering together as fast as the speed limit would allow, only to have her turn abruptly into a parking lot. It turned out to be the parking lot of her Cedar City Head Start program. My head is still spinning from the time-zone, time-warp and the jet-plane, jet-lag and the changing of planes and and and -- and I am truly none-the-wiser.

First I'm being greeted & hugged in the front office and ever-so-gently I'm being shepherded down the hallway, when all of a sudden we turn and there stands a troupe of young angels in two perfectly straight lines. I get all a'giggle and ponder what on earth?? Should we go back to the car and get my big box of surprises?? "No." Sheila assures me that these dear wonders have a surprise for me. With the click of the 'play' button the whole group starts singing in unison, "I think you're wonderful, I think you're marvelous." And so it goes.

Once I finally catch on to the nature of this grand performance I am quickly digging mid-verse into my purse for my camera and I have just enough wear-with-all to put the camera on it's video mode....all while singing along & signing, too. What you see is the final half of the CD's sung version and the first half of the encore instrumental phase -- [the teachers are using the CD from the back of my picture book by the same title, which has only those two tracks.]

Wow. To think that in a week's time I can travel from NYC to Utah and find the same level of enthusiasm for my simple song, is to ponder the nature of the universe. To ponder the power of music. To ponder the connection that affirmation holds for all of us. To ponder the role of teachers in the lives of young children. To ponder the role of individual teachers in my life. To ponder life. To ponder. Ponder, indeed.

The video is a wonderful demonstration of the love that preschool children have for sign language, for performing, for singing, for sharing, for literacy, for being children, for sharing the spot light. It's fun to ponder. It's fun to celebrate. It's fun to get to rub elbows with such bottled enthusiasm!! Pinch myself..... and exhale.