I like trains. I like their rhythm, and I like the freedom of being suspended between two places, all anxieties of purpose taken care of: for this moment I know where I'm going.~Anna Funder

The boy burst into my life with two backpacks full of plastic train tracks and myriad miniature train engines that he enthusiastically emptied in the middle of my living room. "I love trains," he exclaimed. "Wow," I said. "You have a lot of tracks and engines that you brought over." He beamed at me, blue eyes sparkling behind a fringe of blond bangs. The boy, I'll call Marco, (to protect his confidentiality) and I planned to collaborate in an effort to increase his reading skills. I wasn't sure where to go with the agenda, but I knew it would need to include trains.

I said, "Marco, what are you going to do with all these train parts?" He said, "Miss Priscilla, I'm going to build a track for my trains to run on."

"Great! Show me," I said. I thought to myself, "Get to know him, Priscilla. Pay attention. Learn why he loves trains so much. Learn from him. Put away your agenda.

In about twenty minutes Marco constructed a complex train track. And while expertly connecting the tracks he told me about his favorite engines that he placed at various stations. And it was then that an idea came to me. God's leading, no doubt. "Marco, why don't I put the reading cards around the track at all your stations? When your engines move to that station, you can read the cards. "Ms. Priscilla, that's a great idea. We can have a vowel party!"

During a snack break, I asked Marco, "How do you feel about reading?" He said, "Sometimes I feel stressed, because reading is too hard." I asked, "What if we worked together to help you feel less anxious about reading?"

"That would be good," he said.

Now for the last several weeks, Marco and I enjoy trains together and curate vowel parties. He and I have been suspended in that location where anxiety is paused and the present inhabits delight and freedom. We are headed in the right direction. Marco is brave. Trying new words. Learning vowels. Practicing. 

We had a celebration last Friday. A little cake and a T-shirt with trains on the front. Marco's reading a lot more confidently. I sense he's running now. Ready for the next stop.