Help
Sign In
death
October 2008 
Chapter 4: She Was Loved (& So Am I)
Posted on Aug 8th, 2008
by 
Blessing Conspirator
Blessing Conspirator
Today we made all the phone calls to close accounts, talked to the school district about benefits (we won't know any specifics till we know cause of death), and took care of all of the other business that we could.
Then we went to the school to pick up her personal items. The principal was cold and unfeeling. It was extremely awkward. And now we understand why my mother didn't get along with her at all.
On the other hand, I also now understand that things were not as bad for her here as I originally thought. My mother was loved dearly by her students and other students in the school. The sister of one of her students saw us going into the classroom and asked if we were related to her. When we said yes she just gushed and told us how she cried when she read the announcement earlier in the week. We left with two boxes of my mother's things, mostly gifts and home-made cards she had received from her students.
The tears started flowing as I approached the car and didn't stop for a good 20 minutes. It was the first really good cry I've had since Monday. I think I am relieved. There is nothing more pure than the love of a young child, which is perhaps part of why my mother was drawn to teaching. Whatever my mom's issues, she was a good teacher. It was her bliss, although she would have preferred working in a private Christian school to a public one. She put all of her heart into her 1st grade students. And they loved her back.
We finished up the day making more progress on the apartment. We threw out at least 10 large trash bags of trash. We've arranged for a charity to pick up all the furniture, clothes, books, craft supplies (that I'm not taking), and other miscellaneous things so they are not wasted. I'm not sure how I'm going to get everything home that we'd like to. Her car isn't very large and there is a lot of albums, pictures, fabric, craft supplies and other things I'd like to take. I guess we'll just do the best we can.
I'm so tired. I'm really worried about making this drive by myself, especially since I want to leave super early Sunday morning to get through the desert before it gets too hot. No air conditioning in the car. Hopefully that's the only thing wrong with it. Mom wasn't so good at caring for cars. I'm a little concerned about driving 900 miles without knowing exactly what condition it's in, but we can't really afford to have it thoroughly checked out after all the money we've spent on travel, death details, etc. I'll get an oil change in the morning and see if they can tell me if I should get a tune up, too. Other than that, I'll be running on hope the whole way home.
p.s. Today I asked for help, which is a significant act for me. I asked a big favor of a friend, someone I wasn't entirely sure it was even appropriate to ask such a big favor from. But she was very happy to come through in any way that I need. I cried tears of relief, and maybe even joy. I am so incredibly loved.
Then we went to the school to pick up her personal items. The principal was cold and unfeeling. It was extremely awkward. And now we understand why my mother didn't get along with her at all.
On the other hand, I also now understand that things were not as bad for her here as I originally thought. My mother was loved dearly by her students and other students in the school. The sister of one of her students saw us going into the classroom and asked if we were related to her. When we said yes she just gushed and told us how she cried when she read the announcement earlier in the week. We left with two boxes of my mother's things, mostly gifts and home-made cards she had received from her students.
The tears started flowing as I approached the car and didn't stop for a good 20 minutes. It was the first really good cry I've had since Monday. I think I am relieved. There is nothing more pure than the love of a young child, which is perhaps part of why my mother was drawn to teaching. Whatever my mom's issues, she was a good teacher. It was her bliss, although she would have preferred working in a private Christian school to a public one. She put all of her heart into her 1st grade students. And they loved her back.
We finished up the day making more progress on the apartment. We threw out at least 10 large trash bags of trash. We've arranged for a charity to pick up all the furniture, clothes, books, craft supplies (that I'm not taking), and other miscellaneous things so they are not wasted. I'm not sure how I'm going to get everything home that we'd like to. Her car isn't very large and there is a lot of albums, pictures, fabric, craft supplies and other things I'd like to take. I guess we'll just do the best we can.
I'm so tired. I'm really worried about making this drive by myself, especially since I want to leave super early Sunday morning to get through the desert before it gets too hot. No air conditioning in the car. Hopefully that's the only thing wrong with it. Mom wasn't so good at caring for cars. I'm a little concerned about driving 900 miles without knowing exactly what condition it's in, but we can't really afford to have it thoroughly checked out after all the money we've spent on travel, death details, etc. I'll get an oil change in the morning and see if they can tell me if I should get a tune up, too. Other than that, I'll be running on hope the whole way home.
p.s. Today I asked for help, which is a significant act for me. I asked a big favor of a friend, someone I wasn't entirely sure it was even appropriate to ask such a big favor from. But she was very happy to come through in any way that I need. I cried tears of relief, and maybe even joy. I am so incredibly loved.
Access: Public
