Thursday, August 26, 2010

Spreading the love

What a day of mixed emotions...

The wife of a friend went to hospital this morning only to be told her worst nightmare had come true: she was having a miscarriage. I feel their pain keenly.

Then came the news item about a taxi accident in which 9 children were killed. The taxi driver decided that he couldn't wait for the train to pass the level crossing, so jumped the queue, and got hit. He survived, but 9 children ranging in age from about 9 to 16 died. Normally, I would read a story like this, shake my head, and feel mildly outraged for a while. Today, I read it and burst into tears. All I could think about was those poor parents who kissed their kids goodbye this morning, only to receive a phone call an hour or so later to tell them their baby was dead. If that were me, if that were Janel.... my world would implode again. I don't know if I could survive another grief on that scale. How these parents will survive to pick up the pieces and move on with their lives is beyond me, even having walked my own grief journey.

Then, I did some community service with the kids on cross-curricular week today. We were making sandwiches (over 800!) for the School Buddies programme. The kids were wearing aprons with the slogan "Spread the Love". One of the kids piped up with the tag line - spreading the love one slice at a time. Beaut!

But a highlight was coming home. Nate was having a bottle. I waited until he was basically finished, then walked in and sat down next to him. He squealed, jumped up and burrowed himself into me - not just once, but several times in a row. When all is wrong with the world, there's nothing like a hug from your baby to make you feel loved and special.

No comments: