Originally Unoriginal

I just received extremely sad new; a former student of mine was killed instantly in a car crash earlier today. She was on my yearbook staff a couple of years ago and was one of the students that I was closest too, even after graduation. She texted me and kept in touch via Facebook . I saw her with her boyfriend at a softball game last week. She let me borrow her pony tail holder. I meant to get it back to her soon. This is the 3rd student/former student that has passed away since school started in August. It's hard for me as a teacher to see life end so tragically, so abruptly. They aren't suppose to die. They are teenagers. But here I am, creating memorials for these students to put in the upcoming yearbook. Here we are comforting students who have lost their brother, sister, and friends.

A good friend of mine from church took his life Saturday afternoon. He had just texted me Thursday evening and told me that he loved me and hoped that everyone at the church knew how much he cared about us. I had no idea that would be the last time I would talk to him. But I told him that I loved him and that the church loved him. I hope he remembered that in those final moments. I wished there was more I could have said or done. I trust that he is in the hands of a merciful God.

My friend's father got really sick last Friday night. He's 86 and has had a hard time breathing for years. The ambulance came and got him, and he was placed on life support. The doctors basically told them that he would die soon. The family had to make the decision to pull him off the life support, or to keep him on permanently . Her father answered the question for them. On Wednesday, he pulled out the tubes himself, sat up on the side of the bed, and asked for water! He lived for 3 more days; he passed away early Saturday morning. Even though they are mourning their loss, they feel blessed that they had the chance to say goodbye. Another friend's mother had a stroke Thursday. I talked to him today, and he was feeling down. He told me "I trust God, but what if God takes her away?" I instantly felt his pain. Just because you trust God, it doesn't stop it from hurting. Even though God's ways are better than ours, sometimes it takes years to understand and y...