I know people say this all the time, but life is so very very short. Most people don’t realize it, but it is always in the back of my mind. Almost thirty years ago, as my brothers and I were entering adulthood, our father’s kidneys started failing. He died after a 2 ½ year fight including many urgent trips to the hospital, a failed transplant, and a week-long coma. In short, we were learning what it was to be a grown-up while we learned how to deal with illness and death. Despite this familiarity with illness, it always comes as a shock when someone young is suddenly stricken with a serious illness.

 

Our beloved crossing guard is in surgery as her doctors fight a brain tumor. She was taken to the Emergency Room Saturday with symptoms, Sunday she was diagnosed, and today they are trying to take it out safely. The outcome does not look very good, but we are all praying for her today.

 

My thoughts, after my concern for the family, are these: what about the kids. She knows every single child’s name, and she crosses close to 400 children every day. We are amazed each year when she has the kindergartners’ names down within weeks of the start of the school year. She also knows a fair amount of parents’ names and remembers the small details each child shares with her.

 

Our hearts are aching today as my husband and I try to figure out how to tell the kids when they come home from school today that Debbie is battling this tumor. We will pray for Debbie, her surgeons and her family while we try to enjoy each healthy moment we have at our disposal because you never know what tomorrow holds. I say this without pessimism, just realism. There is joy in life. Around every corner there is joy. We need to grasp that joy and embrace the possibilities life throws us as Debbie does every single day.

 

I’m going to hug my children a little tighter tonight; give my husband a little longer kiss when he comes home. Our lives are what we make them. I want to make mine as joyful as Debbie’s is each time she crosses our children safely, remembers a birthday or pins a new pin on her safety vest. Hang in there, Deb. We love you and look forward to having you back at your post, crossing our children and nailing the speeders.