A Mom's Worst Fears

...have been realized over this last month with my kids in the neighborhood schools. Before they were in a bubble in a small town, small student populated private Catholic school (which turned out terrible enough). Anyway, the events that have happened, not to my kids, but to other kids in the schools is enough to send a mom directly to the psych hospital. Here's why:

At Tony's school: a 13-year-old girl has been missing for over 30 days now. Her posters are up everywhere. She was in Tony's grade. Suspicion is that she ran away and is "out there" somewhere. Her parents have put open letters in the paper to her. No responses.

Also at Tony's school: a 6th grade boy has been told that his leukemia has returned for the 3rd time and THIS time he needs a bone narrow transplant. Sad thing is that his family is not a match, so there is a donor drive at the school this afternoon.

At Marisa's school: This last Saturday night a senior, an 18-year-old boy, was in a single car accident on the highway. He got out of the car to run across the highway and was struck dead. Today, grief counselors are at the high school. This boy was on the soccer team and the student film news crew. Of course, Marisa is like me and lets tragic events overtake her. We had long talks yesterday and this morning about what to expect at school and how to stay faithful yet objective.

So, a mom's total nightmare: a runaway, a life threatening illness, and a tragic car accident.

Please pray for the kids and families in this community as well as your own. We don't understand the "bigger picture" in all of this. I have said the Guardian Angel, the Rosary, and the Our Father so many times of late. Please join me...