Almost daily we grieved over the empty desk that was his or stick that was pulled with his name or maybe the workbook that belonged to him. Although he wasn't physically with us, we new his spirit was always there. He had a spirit of kindness, humor, and good heartedness. We tried to put those things first. If we couldn't have him, then we would have pieces of the goodness he brought to our classroom.
And somehow without being said, we knew that whatever hard task that may lie before us throughout the days and weeks of third grade, it was nothing compared to the battle that our Henry was fighting. We rallied around him and declared him as Henry Our Hero. We never knew our annual MBES relay would be done in honor of one of our very own.
The constant question was, "When is Henry coming back?" It is so hard to avoid big questions, but none of us had an answer to that one. Until the day he did return. It was a grand entrance- one the students who were there will never forget. We just could hardly contain our excitement for him as he drove up in a limo where the whole school was cheering for him. The red carpet was rolled out. He came with an entourage of loved ones and the paparazzi!
All the limelight could not dim the light that was shining in all of us. He was really here. This evil disease did not swallow up our friend and our student. He looked a little different from the Henry we remembered, but his kindness, humor, and goodheartedness could not be mistaken. We could finally answer the question of when he was coming back. "He is here students! He is right here where he belongs." 
