There's a light at each end of this tunnel, you shout

This week I've had one mantra running through my head. Breathe, just breathe. It's been one of those weeks, for about a million different reasons.

Shane's dad had a double knee replacement surgery on Monday (Shane's birthday). The surgery went well, but afterward, he had shortness of breath and ended up in the ICU. All tests came back negative, so they think it was a minor reaction to anesthetic, but still. Stressful. We went up there, and Luke and I stayed in the family room since Luke is too young for the ICU. Since then, we've spent every night either going to the hospital or to Shane's parents' house to take care of their dog. We've eaten fast food every night this week, and we are not a fast food family. I feel like I need to eat nothing but raw veggies for a week to detox.

Tuesday was Election night, and regardless of your thoughts on the outcome, I think we can all agree that it was an overwhelming end to a rollercoaster of an election year. Thank goodness those only come up every four years!

Yesterday was a long day. I was exhausted from staying up way too late on Tuesday, plus running around every night. Oh, and then there's the part of my day that consists solely of 8th graders. We had some discipline issues with a student, and I finally sat her down and said, What is WRONG? She looked at me with tear-filled eyes and said, "I feel like I'm breaking apart inside." She told me about losing her 4 month old baby cousin and how she thinks of him every day, especially with the the holidays coming. She said she doesn't want to talk to her parents because she doesn't want them to worry about her. I told her that as a parent, I would worry more if I found out down the road that my child felt like that, and I wasn't able to do anything to help them. We talked about her feelings and how to deal with grief, and I made sure that she will talk to the counselors, who will in turn talk to her parents, because they need to know.
It's hard sometimes, because you carry this job home with you. You come home with a heavy heart at what 14 year olds have to handle, and it's hard. So hard.

But I know that she will get through this, and I will help her. And I know that this week is almost over. Tomorrow, Shane and I are going out for his birthday. What Shane doesn't know is that I've contacted some of our close friends to show up and join us at the restaurant. I thought he could use a surprise after what would be a long week (watch this be the one time EVER that Shane decides to read my blog), and I know it will be a good night. This week has been a struggle, but tomorrow will be full of laughter and friends.

And next week? Maybe I can breathe.