Another One

I was all ready to tell you about our fantastic excursion to the Mall of America (MOA), until we got a call yesterday afternoon that ANOTHER area teenager died yesterday morning.

I’m in shock. That’s one from each class except this year’s freshmen at our high school. The school that I live right across the street from, and where my girls I used to babysit are now sophomores and juniors. I want to just sit them down and try talking to them. But I don’t know what good I can possibly do. They will bury one of their school mates tomorrow, and I don’t know that the news has entirely broken about this kid.

I see a lot of people just sort of shaking their heads. Wondering what is going on, wondering what else can possibly happen. The kids are wondering which one of them is going to be next. And the adults are wondering how they can help these poor kids cope with the loss of yet another young life.

The thing with all of this is that there just isn't a lot of death around here. You read the obituaries and they are mostly people over the age of 85. So for these kids to have to bury four of their friends in the past six months, it's just totally unheard of.

It makes me realize (and appreciate) how sheltered we are out here. This will all be front page news because it just. doesn't. happen. If there can be anything positive out of this it is 1) these familes are surrounded by an entire community that hurts with them and is going out of their way to care for them and 2) my kids will grow up in a town where violence and death is not a regular part of their day.

And I think I’ve said it before, but I’ll say it again: I am a fixer. I like to fix problems and make things as painless as possible for everyone involved. So the fixer in me wants to just go to all these kids and hug them. I want to tell them that these were all freak accidents and the important thing is to appreciate the people around you because you never know when the last time you see them will be.

So, if you pray, please pray for all these kids. Pray for their parents and the leaders in our community to have the appropriate words to say to give them the most comfort possible in this scary time.