My Heart Aches

Okay...so I've whined all summer about things at home, and now it's back to the grindstone.  Today, on the second day of school with students, I had some of my kids fill out index cards with information about them:  their age, who they live with, their favorite subject and worst subject, their passions...and the last question is always open-ended:  if there is something I should know about you, write it now.  In past years, I have had kids tell me about physical disabilities, parental divorces, etc.  This year, some of the responses--and I only did it in three classes--broke my heart.

One youngster is living with his grandparents.  He confided that both of his parents are in jail.  One gets out this month; the other in five years.  One young lady is living with an aunt.  She and all six of her siblings were taken away from the parents due to physical abuse.  (They aren't all living together.)  Yet another young lady, for whom I have a soft heart because I had her brother last year, wrote that her parents were in upheaval about staying together or splitting up, that their power was off, and that her father had attempted suicide in front of her several times.  (One of our teachers drove by a police stand-off at their house just weeks ago...with Dad handcuffed and on the ground.) 

The one that bothers me the most, however, is one from a class that didn't even write cards for me.  Here is the fifth youngster in a family that I have had in class since 1990.  (There are two more to follow.)  They are all "B" students...quiet and proud and unassuming...yet there is no adult in their lives.  The father left, under fire, years ago.  The mother, I guess, was kicked out by the kids a little bit ago...an addict who was making their lives miserable.  These young folks take care of each other--and always have.  They don't ask for anything or even play on others' emotions.  They just quietly go on with their lives, scraping by as best they can.  My heart aches for them all.

Oh!  I forgot one youngster whose mother and sister were killed in a car wreck about five years ago--but I don't ache for him.  His aunt, who lived in Texas with her husband and family at the time of the crash, uprooted everything and came back to take on her sister's two surviving children because that was what she hadpromised to do.  She is a great substitute mom.  May God bless her for her love and loyalty!

Meg, if you are reading this, stop worrying about your babies!  They are surrounded by people who love them.  They have healthy diets, good clothes, rooms of their own (finally), toys galore, and no threats to their security.  They are churched.  No one is in jail.  No one has tried to kill themselves.  No one is so out of control that their well-being is jeopardized.  Things are hectic, for sure...but everyone's needs are covered in fine style. 

I'm not promising that I won't continue to whine, but I am saying that my problems seem small compared to those of some of my eighth graders.  Yes, dear readers...we are only talking about 13-year-olds here.  Is it any wonder why society is going to Hell in a handbasket??