She could never forget the kind old man who had been the first to give her the love and sympathy her starved childhood had craved . At the foot of the hill a boy was sitting on the fence in the shadow of the spruces ... a boy with big , dreamy eyes and a beautiful , sensitive face . He swung down and joined Anne , smiling ; but there were traces of tears on his cheeks . `` I thought I 'd wait for you , teacher , because I knew you were going to the graveyard , '' he said , slipping his hand into hers . `` I 'm going there , too ... I 'm taking this bouquet of geraniums to put on Grandpa Irving 's grave for grandma . And look , teacher , I 'm going to put this bunch of white roses beside Grandpa 's grave in memory of my little mother ... because I ca n't go to her grave to put it there . But do n't you think she 'll know all about it , just the same ? '' `` Yes , I am sure she will , Paul . '' `` You see , teacher , it 's just three years today since my little mother died . It 's such a long , long time but it hurts just as much as ever ... and I miss her just as much as ever . Sometimes it seems to me that I just ca n't bear it , it hurts so . '' Paul 's voice quivered and his lip trembled . He looked down at his roses , hoping that his teacher would not notice the tears in his eyes . `` And yet , '' said Anne , very softly , `` you would n't want it to stop hurting ... you would n't want to forget your little mother even if you could . '' `` No , indeed , I would n't ... that 's just the way I feel . You 're so good at understanding , teacher . Nobody else understands so well ... not even grandma , although she 's so good to me . Father understood pretty well , but still I could n't talk much to him about mother , because it made him feel so bad . When he put his hand over his face I always knew it was time to stop . Poor father , he must be dreadfully lonesome without me ; but you see he has nobody but a housekeeper now and he thinks housekeepers are no good to bring up little boys , especially when he has to be away from home so much on business .
Grandmothers are better , next XXXXX mothers .
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