SAD NEWS

Today was a rough day at work. I have my students on "Lock Down." This means that they are not allowed to leave the classroom for any circumstances except for their therapies and to go to the bathroom. They have had a hard time adjusting to the rules in the classroom and have chosen not to follow them... So until they do, they will have no priveleges, not even gym class until they start respecting the rules and the staff.

So, after a day of some defiant teeenagers, I finally get to look at my phone. There is a message from my brother. I listen to the message to find out that my Grandma (My Dad's Mom. She lives in Chicago) is in the hospital. I guess she has been having some pain in her stomach and has had no appetite. Well, after some tests they found out that she has cancer cells on her liver. They think that it may have come from somewhere else because it is rare that cancer starts in the liver. This is odd because my Grandma is fairly good about going to the doctor, but at the same time was often resistant to any sort of tests. So, I have no idea really what stage she is in or what her prognosis is.. but I am asking for you to keep my Grandma in your thoughts.

When I told Benjamin about his Great-Grandma he started to cry. It of course brought tears to my eyes. I assured him that the doctors would do everything they could for her. I don't 'mask' any situation for Benjamin. I believe in telling him the truth and not hiding that a family member could pass away some day. He was in tears and scared. I just kept reassuring him that everyone will be okay and the best he could do is to keep her in his thoughts. After a little while, Benjamin said, "I want to donate money. That's how I can help right? I can donate money to cancer research." It was the sweetest thing my little guy has ever said. When Cade found out what was going on, he also donated some of his money to give to cancer research. I'm so proud of my boys!!! I called my Grandma and told her what the kids did and she was so proud of them too!