The author of this beautiful book doesn't leave Humpty on the ground all cracked up. He tells a different story, one that inspires me, one I'd read to my students if I were still a teacher:
The King's Men do put him back together again for one thing.
But not everything is fixed with tape and glue.
Humpty stays scared for a long time, unwilling to go back up on his wall where he can watch the birds and be happy. After falling and crashing, he knows now that "accidents can happen."
I relate. A year ago today I was black and blue and barely walking. I had just fallen backwards down a flight of 13 wooden stairs in an old farm house. For a long time, I looked askance at stairs of any kind, and I held on to railings. When Jan and I landed in New York in August, I saw that the only way out of our little plane were stairs. I had three choices: Stay on the plane. Ask for a ramp. Or do the stairs. I chose option #3.
Humpty was finally inspired by seeing "an idea float by." His was a paper plane. So he sat himself down and started making origami planes. It was harder than he thought--but finally he got it just right.
"I hadn't felt that happy in a long time."
Unfortunately, accidents do happen, more than once, we all know. His beautiful perfect plane crashed--arghhh!
But Humpty wanted to be back on his wall and see what he could see. So with terror in his little egg heart, he climbed back up.
I didn't look up.
I didn't look down.
I just kept climbing.
One step at a time....
Until I was no longer afraid.
We see a cracked little egg man back on the wall, covered with leaves, smiling!
Maybe now you won't think of me as that
egg who was famous for falling.
Hopefully, you'll remember me as the egg who got back up.
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