End of a Long Week

Rarely do I ever wish for a week to be over. But this week? Worst week I've had that I can remember in a long, long time.

Monday my sister, Leslie, was diagnosed with breast cancer.

Tuesday a kindergarten student from Hershey died in Riley Hospital. I spent time after school with our principal, helping her deal with her own grief and figure out how to inform the students and parents.

Tuesday evening I spent 3.5 hours with Phyllis in the emergency room because she hurt her back.

Wednesday when starting to deal with the death of the student at school, we were informed by the assistant superintendent that we could not discuss the student's death with our classes due to privacy issues. Talk about an elephant in the room - the kids knew and NEEDED to share their feelings. And so did we. It was an awful day with a lot of pent up feelings across the board as we all tiptoed around the fact that a student had died while not acknowledging that fact.

Thursday I got a cordial letter from the Golden Apple Award folks telling me that, while I'd made the top 15 teachers vying for the award, I had been cut from the list. (I did receive a pretty certificate from them, and it was an honor even to be nominated, let alone make the top 15.)

Thursday afternoon a Hershey school bus was T-boned at an intersection while taking children home from school. (No one was hurt, fortunately.)

Today I opened the obituaries and discovered my mother's best friend from childhood had passed away. I was the one who gave the sad news to my mom (and she was already under duress with the news about Leslie's cancer.)

Every day of the week something crummy happened. I am glad it is over.

Triple Whammy

A triple whammy in just Monday and Tuesday of this week.

My sister was diagnosed with breast cancer and has started down that scary path of doctors and chemo and surgeries and all that goes along with battling cancer.

A kindergartner at Hershey passed away after a short illness.

My mother-in-love hurt her back and I spent a long evening in the ER with her. (The good news on this whammy is that she is much better.)

I don't usually feel emotionally exhausted like I do now, but needless to say, a quiet walk along the river, sitting in the temple, or just plain old sleep sound good right now.

How?

Hershey lost a kindergartner this afternoon. Last Wednesday he stayed home with the flu; after a couple of days, he was admitted to Riley Children's Hospital in Indianapolis.  Turns out he had encephalitis, and it proved more than his little body could withstand. The school got word after dismissal that he had passed away this afternoon.

He leaves behind twin toddler siblings and his parents, a grieving teacher, classmates, and school.

Ever sat with a principal and helped her word a letter going home to parents explaining that a student has died? How on earth do you say what needs to be said?

How do you tell a class of five year olds that their friend is not coming back?

How do you remove that tiny desk, and pack up the crayons and scissors, without sobbing?

How do you explain to reading buddies that their little buddy is gone?

How do you take down artwork displayed in the hallway?

How do you face a class of children who are fully aware of what has happened and reassure them that things will be okay?

Tomorrow is going to be a long, sad day.

Rest in peace, Jude Cotter.

Sobering News

My sister has breast cancer.

Sobering news.

Hopefully caught early, and the mass is small.

Life changes in just a moment.

I feel like I have undergone a paradigm shift.

I imagine she feels much the same.

Put her on the temple prayer roll as soon as I could.

Praying.

Down Comes the Nativity...

... and up go the Valentine decorations!

Yes, I really did just take down the Nativity this morning. I'd left it up for Kyle and his family to enjoy when they were here two weeks ago. Then I got so sick with that stomach flu and it wasn't until today that I could get to it. It has been out on display since Lisa and I put it up the day after Thanksgiving!

A close-up of the mantle. These are empty chocolate boxes I've been given over the years. When I was a child, I used to stand in Hooks Drug Store next to Marsh here on the West Side and look at the shelves of Valentine heart boxes full of chocolates of every kind, dreaming that some day someone would give me one. (I think that's why I have saved these boxes! My wish came true - many times over!) I even bought one or two for my mother back then, although I know now that there's a world of difference between drugstore chocolates and Fanny May. (Sorry about that, Mom!)

I've hung some cupids on the pillars between the dining room and the living room and put a candle or two out, and that's about it.

Hard to believe we are in February already.

School Rocks!

And so do the people I work with. Case in point - when discovering that I was currently teaching Earth Science in my classroom, Mr. Eberle, a recess aide, began bringing in rocks that he's found to share with my students. But they weren't ordinary rocks - take a look at this!

 Pretty piece of obsidian, isn't it?

 Make that a pretty HUGE piece of obsidian. He found it in Benton County.

 It's actually a deep, deep blue. I tried and tried to get a picture showing that, but didn't have much success. If you look closely in this picture at the mid-lower right, you can see some of the blue showing. Hold this piece up to the light and it is breathtaking. (In the previous photo, you can also see some of the blue showing at the base in the middle.)

He also has a huge geode that he brought in for us. I think it looks like the oversized brain, It, from my favorite book A Wrinkle in Time by Madeline L'Engle. Mr. Eberle says he keeps the geode in his garden, and that folks have asked him to cut it open and see what's inside, but he likes it the way it is. Like all the other rocks in the pictures, he found this one, too.

Mr. Eberle's home is near Prophetstown on the Wabash River by the 225 bridge. He told me his great grandmother was deeded the property by Tecumseh and that they have a document with Tecumseh's signature. (I hope he brings that in to show us, too!) Obviously the area was populated by Native Americans for centuries, judging by the items he has found on his property.

Here's a smattering of what he shared with us, all of which he has found himself on his land. He said he has old coffee cans in his garage chock full of arrowheads, tools, etc.

 Fire starters. Tinder was placed in the bowl of these.

I can't remember what he said this was called, but Mr. Eberle indicated that is was used as some sort of clothing or shield decoration.

Musket balls! (He has cans of these, too.) The top right one is metal; the others are stone and made by Native Americans. He said the different sizes went to different sized guns, but I don't know much about guns and can't remember.

It's taken a lot of work for him to lug all these to school, but Mr. Eberle does it because he cares. (He also has given me some pieces to keep for future use.) That's the kind of people I work with.

School rocks!

A Hershey Valentine

I hit the brakes tonight in surprise as I was driving down the lane from the Hershey parking lot. It happened again!

Whoever has been decorating this post for the Hershey faculty and students has gotten it ready for Valentine's Day. From fall and Halloween decorations to Christmas and now this, someone is enjoying themselves as they bring cheer to the school.