touchstone
The other day a former student stopped by. He was one of my favourites (I know, I know, not supposed to have favourites...) - such a hard worker, great sense of humor, mature, easy to talk to. I miss him a lot.
We talked about the fact that he and his 3 younger sisters, youngest age 2, are living in a hotel right now, being taken care of by child and family services. At the beginning of the week, their dad phoned the police because his wife, the kids' mother, had been beaten up and was unconscious. The police arrested dad, mom's in the hospital and in a coma, and the children are in a hotel.
This is a family relatively new to Canada, struggling to learn English and to get ahead.
Throughout our discussion, my student was calm, collected and philosophical. I asked him if his dad had ever beaten his mom or them before. He said no. He said 'No one knows what happened. Only she (mom) knows' and he shrugged. He doesn't think his dad did it, but there are no witnesses to prove it. He also said 'I cried for 2 days after it happened, but crying won't bring her back, won't solve the problem. All I can do is pray to God. God knows what happened. We just have to trust God.'
It just about broke my heart.
This is what has been rolling around in my head over the past week. I need this story to remind myself of the larger picture - the grand scheme if you will.
I don't think of myself as a 'bride' and I don't think I'm terribly attached to details around the day. It doesn't have to be 'perfect'. That hasn't stopped me from checking the weather hourly and privately fretting about pictures, or games, or wondering if people will be bored now that it seems like outside activities will only be for the very hardy. Wondering if it was worth it to get a pedicure when my feet may not see the light of day.
I am up early today because I'm excited about the weekend ahead - seeing family and friends from all over Canada, laughing, celebrating, dancing. I am also incredibly humbled by this. I am blessed. I am lucky. It isn't fair that I'm going to be celebrating and partying while my student passes his time in a hotel, where he wonders who he will live with and what will happen.
I will, however, carry him and his family with me. To remind me, to give a sense of scale to this weekend.
We talked about the fact that he and his 3 younger sisters, youngest age 2, are living in a hotel right now, being taken care of by child and family services. At the beginning of the week, their dad phoned the police because his wife, the kids' mother, had been beaten up and was unconscious. The police arrested dad, mom's in the hospital and in a coma, and the children are in a hotel.
This is a family relatively new to Canada, struggling to learn English and to get ahead.
Throughout our discussion, my student was calm, collected and philosophical. I asked him if his dad had ever beaten his mom or them before. He said no. He said 'No one knows what happened. Only she (mom) knows' and he shrugged. He doesn't think his dad did it, but there are no witnesses to prove it. He also said 'I cried for 2 days after it happened, but crying won't bring her back, won't solve the problem. All I can do is pray to God. God knows what happened. We just have to trust God.'
It just about broke my heart.
This is what has been rolling around in my head over the past week. I need this story to remind myself of the larger picture - the grand scheme if you will.
I don't think of myself as a 'bride' and I don't think I'm terribly attached to details around the day. It doesn't have to be 'perfect'. That hasn't stopped me from checking the weather hourly and privately fretting about pictures, or games, or wondering if people will be bored now that it seems like outside activities will only be for the very hardy. Wondering if it was worth it to get a pedicure when my feet may not see the light of day.
I am up early today because I'm excited about the weekend ahead - seeing family and friends from all over Canada, laughing, celebrating, dancing. I am also incredibly humbled by this. I am blessed. I am lucky. It isn't fair that I'm going to be celebrating and partying while my student passes his time in a hotel, where he wonders who he will live with and what will happen.
I will, however, carry him and his family with me. To remind me, to give a sense of scale to this weekend.
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