A Truly Horrible Week

First, I need to show you one of the few high points of a really terrible week. This absolutely gorgeous card arrived the other day, from my wonderful, dear friend Celia.

When I posted last Saturday I was in what I thought was the end stage of my sinus infection- which I was. However, Saturday night I was suddenly in incredible pain, which lasted for 36 hours. Monday morning I woke up (after 36 hours of pain killers and ice packs) to not only excruciating pain in my face and jaw, but a mass near my back teeth that pushed my face out so far I was distorted and deformed- I looked like someone made up for a monster movie, or as an alien in a sci-fi show.

A trip to the dentist was immediately followed by a trip to the oral surgeon for emergency oral surgery- the mass had to be opened and drained and the tooth it was attacking removed. More pain and swelling, another couple days of no food, lots more meds. I finally returned to work on Wednesday, weak and exhausted, but there.

Returning to school meant returning to an angry and heartbroken faculty and staff, and traumatized and distraught students. The rest of the week was like a never-ending wake. Confusion, anger, frustration, depression, tears; these are now the ruling emotions.

How this will all end I do not know. I do know that an immense amount of psychological trauma has been caused and that not only the children but their families, the teachers, and the staffs are going through a terrible experience. Whatever the final outcome, dreadful emotional scars are being inflicted on thousands of people.

I did have one very nice experience today. While I was having lunch with a friend in a restaurant that our faculty visits on occasion, a woman approached me. She said "I heard you mention where you teach. I teach at (a local private Catholic school) and I want you to know that our faculty all feel awful about what you are going through and we are all praying for you."

I think that is what we all need most now. If you pray, please keep my students, their families, and all my colleagues in your prayers. Thank you.