Something Terrible Happened Today

Okay, so, (notice I start a lot of my posts this way---kind of coversationally? Well today is worth a double "okay, so" as I really need to talk). Okay, so, I've been pretty emotional lately and feeling pretty fragile---which isn't like me. I feel like a lot of things are getting me down---and my "downess" usually ends up beginning with my hives. I'm just so sick of them, just when I think they're "solved", they crop up again. Anyway, then a day like today happens and makes me realize how grateful I should be for my hives---just a minor nuisance in the scheme of things.

Okay, so, I had my class in Glasgow, KY---a big one with girls driving in from all over---from GA(4 1/2 hours), Clarksville, TN, Shepherdsville and Louisville, KY---several hours. Everything was going great---I'm really good at this. I was happy, bright, funny, had them rolling---Jeanne's purse story always sends them over the edge and gets the biggest laugh. I can get very "preachy" in a fun way about trying to get them to understand that scrapbooking is really about telling the story--I'm so passionate about that. In other words, everyone was "in" to the class and enjoying it---I was "rockin' it!"

Then, all of a sudden, someone started screaming and wailing. I was taken off guard and didn't even realize the gal was from my class. I thought some "looney" had entered the store. The other GA girls jumped up. They said they had to leave---the woman's 12 or 16 month granddaughter had "died!" There was confusion, we never really knew what happened. Those ladies had a long ride home.Then another lady in the class said that yesterday would have been the second birthday of her granddaughter who had died last summer of SIDS. The whole scenario knocked the wind out of my sails. Where do you go from there?? Everything I had to say after that seemed so trivial. The mojo was gone---I didn't even try to get it back. The class lasted about 45 minutes more as I trudged on through the rest of it. The ladies were very nice and gave me a lot of positive feedback. I packed up and left.

On the way home, I prayed for that family, and felt like I had a rock in my stomach. I can't imagine that pain. From there, I was sad about mom and how life is really pretty tragic and unpredictable. Then one of my favorite songs from "Aida" came on---"Written in the Stars." There's a line in the song that really hit me---"is this God's Experiment, in which we have no say, in which we're given paradise, but only for one day." Then came the cry. I just feel so bad.

When I got home, Butch could tell right away that something had happened. He hugged me while I sobbed the story. I then told him that I needed a nap. Maybe all this medicine is making me hyper emotional too. I don't know.

But here's the question I thought about between prayers: If something so horrible has happened, that you can do nothing about, should you be called right away? Or would it have been more compassionate to wait until you got home to get the news---knowing that others with you would also have to deal with the situation. If it can't possibly make a difference, and there's never a good time for that sort of news, wouldn't you rather learn it later than sooner? I think I would.

If any of you ladies happen to see this, just know that my prayers are with you. I'll offer my Mass tomorrow in memory of that baby.