Melancholy

A group of students is reading Tuck Everlasting right now and in our discussion, the word melancholy came up. I try to help make sense of things for my students so in response I used a real life example, "Why, just yesterday I was feeling slightly melancholy because I wasn't here with you and my husband was working far away. I felt a little sad and lonely." One of my students looked at me earnestly, "Mrs. K, have you ever considered getting a pet?" Another student said, "You should have called a friend." And a third student said, "Taking a walk outside might help." I totally busted up laughing and reassured them that feeling "slightly melancholy" was not the same as being in the depths of depression. I sincerely thanked them for their concern. Great kids!