40 Days: 022710-D11.0
Good evening…It is 9:09 p.m. Much to share about this day. But first, I must take a moment and remember Emily. Emily Davis was a student at my school, who was diagnosed with Ewings Sarcoma in February 2002. In the two years that she battled her cancer, she remained selfless and optimistic, immersed in her [...]
Casey: Always Loved, Forever Missed
It was six months ago tonight that I checked Facebook one last time before going to sleep, and my heart just collapsed as I read the status updates: RIP Casey, Casey I <3 U, Miss U Casey, among others. I started texting friends, then making calls, then realizing that this world just lost a most [...]
Remembering Emily, Still an Inspiration Five Years Later
Emily Davis was never a student of mine. I never even met her in all her young years as she changed the lives of so many while battling cancer. Yet, when she passed away five years ago on this day, I found myself mourning her death as if I had known her. But I did [...]
Remembering Casey
There’s an emptiness here that is heavier than I’ve ever felt. It’s just a little after 2:30, less than 24 hours after you died, Casey. I’m sitting here alone in our room, 701, that you and Kelsey called your own for so many years. No music plays, and I keep staring in the back area, [...]
Solstice Thoughts: Footsteps in History Aren’t Made Sitting Down
My friend Michelle blogged about a young girl who lost her battle with cystic fibrosis last week, and I was drawn to her caringbridge site for so many different reasons. As a teacher, I’ve lost too many kids to tragedies–some in their control (drugs, car accidents) and some not (murder, cancer, cystic fibrosis). So when [...]
Happy Birthday, Mom
Happy Birthday Mom. You would have turned 82 today, and not a day goes by that I don’t think of you or our many trips we had taken to Maine, Canada, Florida, and other wonderful places. In every adventure, we seized the day, didn’t we? We lived every minute to the fullest, savored the sunsets, [...]
The Significance of the Tree
When we moved last May, we debated about whether to bring our old tree with us. We bought it back in 2000 because we had a National Lampoon experience seeking out the perfect live tree. Three bad evergreens later (all resting outside our living room window, thank you very much), we decided to go artificial. [...]
Celebrating the Life of Jenn See, Through My Eyes, 1 Year Later
It was a year ago today that I learned of the life and death of Jenn See. I was reading some new blogs, and I came across Carl V’s site, Stainless Steel Droppings. While reading some of his earlier posts, I came across a memorial post to Jenn See (click here to read that original [...]
Ode to Mom
We buried Mom today. It was a beautiful service, and we had our entire family back at our new house for hours of sharing wonderful memories. I was also so pleased to see so many of my friends and my colleagues show up at the viewing and at the funeral. The support has been overwhelming, [...]
On the Passing of My Mother
Eileen Westervelt, May 12, 1926 — May 17, 2007 I don’t think I have ever been so sad, yet so honored, in my life. The passing of my mother was not an immediate thing, nor was it ugly in any sense in these past two years that she battled cancer and lived more fully than [...]
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