I can't remember being this tired

In a long, long time. It's like end of the semester-tired, only it feels like it's lasted for the last 5 weeks. It's like I know I need to take care of myself-tired, but I'm just so tired I can't cook myself a meal or do anything else but flop on my bed when I get home.
It's from saying goodbye to first graders you've become attached to, knowing that you won't have the same relationship with them in second grade. They might say hi in the hallway or hug you every so often, but it won't be the unconditional love of their admiration that comes from being their teacher. It's from seeing the disparity in our nation and our educational system, seeing six-year-old kids throw tantrums, obsess over guns, lay on the floor instead of doing their work. It's from hearing them screaming, kicking, and crying- knowing that they are coming from a dark, dark place that even you can't imagine.
It's from realizing that my weekend is booked with social activities, that I want to do, but don't know how I'm going to muster up the energy.
But enough with Negative Nancy.

Here are some of the golden nuggets:
Maliq pretending to be a scientist (even the way he walks through the hallway or flings the milk from his cereal in a straw around the cafeteria)
Laughing when I'm supposed to cry or am too dumbfounded to react
Having two other amazing people going through this experience with me
Running on the beach after working with special needs kids
Having a mom from French-American at the school working too- just seeing how we're all connected and that she and her family are not living in an alternate reality
Seeing people (teachers, assistants, interns, principals) filled with patience and love, ready to greet some of society's most downtrodden, off of the schoolbus every morning
Watching a child's tantrum quelched and then once again reaching an equilibrium, with tear-stained cheeks, the storm is over
Watching a first grader roll over tables, under chairs, tell me I'm possessed because my eyes are so big, but then become my biggest fan and permanent summer line partner
Uniting the class through the World Cup
Roommates who care enough to knock on my door and ask if my paper is almost done
Parents who keep wanting to support me in getting all of the 940 books to Africa
Realizing that 16 days of summer school later, 3 more psych papers, 3 final projects, books in tow, I'll be headed to Africa, and seeing my mom there