Sad Week

We got back from Dutch Harbor on the morning flight on December 3rd, and from there I raced to school to start the week. Thursday morning, my body just kind of decided that it needed a break and I came down with strep throat. I took last Friday off and pretty much spend Friday and Saturday on the couch.

On Sunday, I had enough energy to get up and go to church. That is where we received some very tragic news: there was a terrible house fire in town involving a child who is in my class and a mother who is an aide at our school. At that point, they knew there were deaths, but did not know who. We found out later that day that both the little boy in my class and his mother did not make it out of the house in time. I debated whether or not to post this news, but I know that we can never have too much prayer.

It has definitely been a tough week after this terrible news. We have talked about it in our class, and although I have told my kids that he is in heaven, I don't think they can completely understand what it means and that he is not coming back. Of course, it has been brought up at least once a day since it happened. We made a poster for the funeral that the kids signed and water-color painted. I didn't really realize until the boys' family came into my class on Tuesday that really everything that is left of him was what I have in my class because everything else was destroyed. Although it has been extremely sad for me as his teacher, I can't even imagine what the family is going through.

Please be praying both for our school and the community, as there were many people who were affected by this. The memorial service is scheduled for this Wednesday.