Well, it’s been one helluva week. Â I got seriously sick and missed lots of school. Â During my convalescence, the grading piled up, in its horrible and insidious way, meaning I’m now behind on a few writing deadlines. Â Both boys have nasal discharge of varying colors, and one of them now has pinkeye. Â And yesterday, I started feeling icky again, and I am just crossing my fingers and praying that it’s not a relapse, because if I have to write anymore sub plans I will go postal.
Hey, everybody: Pity Party at Ginny’s house!
Sometimes I think I am an emotional wuss of the first order. Â Things like this — the sickness, the resultant reworking of our already fragile schedule of childcare, the pitching of my carefully-laid plans — can really get me in a funk. Â I don’t like that. Â I should be stronger. Â And sometimes, I am. Â I’ve gone through experiences in my life that were excruciating, physically and emotionally, and I’ve weathered those storms with my little boat of sanity still afloat. Â But somehow, the minor annoyances can add up and really drag me down.
This is when it’s helpful to recall a quotation on the wall of my classroom. Â It says, “Tough times never last, but tough people do.” That’s useful to remember in this time of family pestilence. Â I just need to be tougher than the cough, the virus, the pinkeye. Â As my grandma used to say, this too shall pass.
And boy, if I need a reality check, there is nothing like the photos of the Japanese earthquake and tsunami to make me call off the pity party. Â It’s hard even for a native Californian to fathom a quake that big, and destruction that total. Â It makes me want to cry for those people who have lost everything they owned, who have lost people they love. Â As the first real week of Lent starts, I’m going to keep them in my prayers in a very major way. Â I’ll pray for them to be tough and strong — stronger than the moving plates, stronger than the waves. Â It’s the least I can do, but I think it must count for something.
Our Lady of Japan courtesy of Holy Cards for Your Inspiration.