The Good Katrina

Five-year old Katrina tried to blink away the tears that stung her big blue eyes.

“What’s wrong sweetie, did you get hurt?” Miss Johnson asked.

Katrina’s long brown curls bounced as she shook her head. “Clay says I can’t play with him anymore ’cause I’m a real bad one.”

“Oh, Katrina, you’re not bad.” Miss Johnson took a tissue from her pocket and wiped away the little girls tears, “Clay doesn’t understand, but I think I do. Let’s go find him and I’ll explain it to both of you.”

Miss Johnson and Katrina found the spunky redhead hanging upside down on the monkey bars.

“Hi Clay. Can you come down? I have something very important to talk to you about.”

“But, Miss Johnson, I’m an orangutan and I’m swinging in my tree!”

“And a very smart orangutan, because you can talk. So please, come down and talk to me!”

Clay grabbed the bar with his hands, swung his legs around and then let go, landing on his feet in the soft sand. Looking first at Katrina and then Miss Johnson, “Am I in trouble?”

“No you’re not in trouble, but there is something we need to clear up. Do you know what a hurricane is?”

Clay scratched his head and squinted, “Is it a cane kind a like President Hinckley uses that helps you to hurry?”

Miss Johnson smiled, “No, it’s not a cane, but that’s a good guess. A hurricane is a really bad storm with very strong winds. And each hurricane is given the name of a person. Yesterday a hurricane named Katrina destroyed a lot of homes. It practically destroyed all of New Orleans and many other cities. It was a really bad one!”

Clay sheepishly looked at Katrina, “OH!”

“Did you know hurricanes are named after girls and boys? Someday there might even be a hurricane named Clay that’s even worse than Hurricane Katrina!”

Really? Clay smiled, “Sorry Katrina. I didn’t really think you were bad.”

“It’s okay. Can we be friends again?”

With a big mischievous grin Clay tapped Katrina’s shoulder, “You’re it!”

Miss Johnson smiled as the two friends ran around the playground laughing and squealing.

After school Katrina and her mom talked about the people who had lost everything they owned when Hurricane Katrina hit. Mom told Katrina that their family was going to help by making hygiene kits during family night. Katrina was excited about making the kits, but she wanted to do more. She took down the big jar that she kept her pennies in. She had been saving for months and had finally saved enough to go to the Build-Your-Own-Bear Shop.

“Mom, I have lots of toys. I want to use my pennies to buy toys for the kids whose toys the other ‘Katrina’ took away.”

Mom smiled and hugged Katrina real tight. “Katrina, you’re a very cheerful giver.”

Katrina looked up at her mother. “Like we learned about in our lesson on Sunday?”

“That’s right. And I know that Jesus and Heavenly Father are just as proud of you as I am!”

The next day Katrina and Mom went to the Build-Your-Own-Bear Shop and Katrina made a very special bear with a heart that lit up to give to a Hurricane Katrina victim.

“Mom, guess what? Making a bear for a little girl who needs it more than me makes me really happy!”

“Then you’ve done it right sweetie! Because true happiness comes from serving others with a pure heart.”

By Margie Nauta Lee