I know that it has been a long time since I have written. I left off in the middle of summer vacation in New England so to recap...
We went to Chinatown in Boston for dim sum on Monday.
On Tuesday it was raining, but we still stopped for some outlet mall shopping in Kittery, ME on our way to Kennebunk. We ate lobster dinner that night!
On Wednesday we went to Freeport to the LL Bean Outlet where I found all sorts of bags and backpacks. We also made it to Gooch's Beach that day.
Thursday brought the highlight of our trip: my brother in law came home from Afghanistan and we sped back to Boston to meet him at the airport. What a great day!
I went to the New Balance Outlet on Friday to return some things and my daughter ended up with Bert and Ernie tennis shoes. She loves them! I also took my kids to visit a friend in Salem, MA. We went out to Marblehead Point.
Saturday was our last day and our Maine relatives came down to meet us for a day on the beach near Gloucester, MA. The perfect ending to a wonderful trip.
Real life after vacation brought the set-up of a new classroom for me and 27 wonderful kindergartners for me to teach! No wonder I have had no time to blog, plus my two beautiful children at home and their activities (Cub Scouts and religion class). The change has been tough! Having a classroom there is always so much to learn and so much to do. Even in the two years that I was gone, some things have changed drastically. I am always playing catch up in some arena of my life!
The ironic things that have happened are: I have already attended the funeral of one of my student's mother's and today, a first in my life: I had a student bite another student on the ear a la Mike Tyson! So much for my rule of only food, drink, and candy go in your mouth! What can I say: life is never dull with children around!
Showing posts with label Tragedy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Tragedy. Show all posts
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
Saturday, August 9, 2008
Two Senseless Acts of Violence
Back in May one of my friends, her family, and neighbors were having a cookout/party on a Friday night. They were outside and it was about 10pm when two boys showed up in the yard and said that the group was making too much noise. My friend's husband apologized and as one of the boys left on his own, led the other boy from the yard while promising to keep the noise down. About 10 minutes later the boys came back armed with a baseball bat and a golf club. One of them asked who touched my brother and when my friend's husband came forward, he began to beat the husband on the head with the baseball bat. The other beat the man with the golf club and when they were done, they ran away. The boys were chased, caught, and held until the police got there.
My friend's husband was taken to the hospital by ambulance and had to have brain surgery. He will have to take anti-seizure medicine for the rest of his life and although he has some minor physical issues, he is back to work.
When this happened, I thought to myself, who has the right to do that to another human being? How does making too much noise warrant a beating on the head with a bat? These boys are 17 and 18 years old, and why are you ruining your life over something so minor? I had a really hard time with this event because I know the guy and I know the type of person that he is. I couldn't believe that this had happened to my friend's family, and she lives not too far away from me.
Well, last weekend I went to the funeral of one of my parents from when I taught. She was a major presence in our school because she was PTO president and a parent consultant. Last year when I left teaching, she was 8 months pregnant and when she came in to ask who needed help packing up, the office sent her to my room. She spent the whole day in my room, and I really appreciated the help. I had her son the year before, and she was a very involved parent in her children's education.
The weekend before she passed away, her family was having trouble with their neighbor who did not like her children riding their bikes over his lawn. When asked to come out and talk to an adult about the situation, the neighbor came out with his gun. He shot up the family car as the family hid behind it, and somehow the mother got shot in the neck. She was unresponsive when the paramedics got there and never regained consciousness. Her organs were donated, and she was taken off life support a few days later. She was a mother of four and 29 years old. (The man who shot her had a standoff with police and then committed suicide.)
When this second event happened, it was surreal to me because you always hear about people and tragedies that happen on the news; you just never think that you will know someone that the news is talking about. But, I did not have as hard of a time dealing with this event as I did when my friend's husband was beaten. Some of my friends that I taught with were in disbelief and shocked that this had happened to such a wonderful person. I was somewhat numb to the event, I think, because all the feeling that my friends were experiencing with this mom's death, I had felt when my friend's husband was beaten.
C C-B, you were taken too soon, may you rest in peace.
My friend's husband was taken to the hospital by ambulance and had to have brain surgery. He will have to take anti-seizure medicine for the rest of his life and although he has some minor physical issues, he is back to work.
When this happened, I thought to myself, who has the right to do that to another human being? How does making too much noise warrant a beating on the head with a bat? These boys are 17 and 18 years old, and why are you ruining your life over something so minor? I had a really hard time with this event because I know the guy and I know the type of person that he is. I couldn't believe that this had happened to my friend's family, and she lives not too far away from me.
Well, last weekend I went to the funeral of one of my parents from when I taught. She was a major presence in our school because she was PTO president and a parent consultant. Last year when I left teaching, she was 8 months pregnant and when she came in to ask who needed help packing up, the office sent her to my room. She spent the whole day in my room, and I really appreciated the help. I had her son the year before, and she was a very involved parent in her children's education.
The weekend before she passed away, her family was having trouble with their neighbor who did not like her children riding their bikes over his lawn. When asked to come out and talk to an adult about the situation, the neighbor came out with his gun. He shot up the family car as the family hid behind it, and somehow the mother got shot in the neck. She was unresponsive when the paramedics got there and never regained consciousness. Her organs were donated, and she was taken off life support a few days later. She was a mother of four and 29 years old. (The man who shot her had a standoff with police and then committed suicide.)
When this second event happened, it was surreal to me because you always hear about people and tragedies that happen on the news; you just never think that you will know someone that the news is talking about. But, I did not have as hard of a time dealing with this event as I did when my friend's husband was beaten. Some of my friends that I taught with were in disbelief and shocked that this had happened to such a wonderful person. I was somewhat numb to the event, I think, because all the feeling that my friends were experiencing with this mom's death, I had felt when my friend's husband was beaten.
C C-B, you were taken too soon, may you rest in peace.
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