Life is Fragile....Handle with Prayer

Please say a prayer today for the Davidson family.  Jim, the father, was my boss up until this year...and on Sunday their only daughter, Whitney was killed in a single- car accident.  She was only 24 years old.  My heart grieves for the family right now.  Whitney was so full of life.  This has been a rather tragic beginning to a week.  I think I will be glad when it is over.  The dreaded pink slips were handed out at school yesterday....there was a lot of tears, wailing, and gnashing of teeth.  I remember the pink slip days well.  When I first went to work....the state was in proration (nasty word)...and I was pinked every year for the first three years I taught.   I was always hired back....but the pinking itself is very traumatic.  The band director at the Middle School, Crystal Parker, was also in a bad accident on Sunday.  Her car left the road, flipped a few times, and ended upside down....submerged in water.  A nurse and her husband happened to witness the whole thing...and the nurse got into the car and held Crystals head out of the water.  How lucky is that?  Crystal was airlifted to Columbus and has been in critical condition.....today we heard that she was aware.  How great is our God!  I found a great poem I just had to share with you today. Life is fragile....and we need to enjoy every moment.

LIFE IS A GIFT, MAKE THE MOST OF IT.

Life is an opportunity, benefit from it.

Life is beauty, admire it.

Life is a dream, realize it.

Life is a challenge, meet it.

Life is a duty, complete it.

Life is a game, play it.

Life is fragile, hold it.

Life is a promise, fulfill it.

Life is sorrow, overcome it.

Life is a struggle, accept it.

Life is a tragedy, confront it.

Life is an adventure, dare it.

Life is luck, make it.

Life is precious, do not destroy it.

Life is life, fight for it.

- Unknown

Black Thursday

Today is the day I dread the most. It is the day that pink slips and RIF (Reduction in force) announcements are given out. I hate this day....and today is no different than the other 23 of these I have experienced. For a few of those 23 years I experienced the feel of a pink slip first hand. It is one of the most degrading feelings I have ever had. When you already have an issue with low self-exteem....a pink slip is not an ego booster. I worked hard to get my teaching degree....I went to school with three kids, (sometimes in tow - going to summer kids college) and managed an office on the side....many nights I fell asleep studying....and for what? To get a degree....and then be pink slipped. My daughter, Kat was pinked in February. Her system got a jump on the program....her only comment was that the blasted slip of paper was not pink...it was just plain ole white. She was rehired in April....so we can breathe easy for another year. Today, Miss Johnnie, one of our janitors...a real sweetheart...just left my room...she was crying....by the time she left...I was too. Scott, the math teacher next door also was pinked...and I just gave him the names of the Superintendants from surrounding counties and told him to call....now! To top off pink slip day....my principal resigned too. He will be the principal at Valley High next year. I am sad. I have not always agreed with him....but I have respected him and he has always been there for me when I needed to be put back together. He is a sweet and endearing man. Sigh...it is now fourth block and the day is almost over. I am glad...tomorrow I will deal with the aftermath of pink slip day. Tomorrow....in the words of the immortal Scarlett O'Hara, "Tomorrow I'll think of some way . . . after all, tomorrow is another day." Tomorrow is....the school bell will ring, teachers will teach, students will be students, new faces will come in the fall, old faces will be forgotten by some, there will be a new principal....and life will go on. Obla di....obla da!