Take a moment

To say my work lately has been crazy is an understatement. My principal has been gone so I have been doing double duty as principal when needed, teacher in my classroom and finishing homework all in the last two week. I don't write alot about work, it is what I do and a part of me and everybody's work gets crazy sometimes, but sometime a "moment" comes along to remind me that the work I do is special, gratifying and a few, rare times just plain sad. I had one of those moments last week or should I say it should have been a "moment" but I have just been TOO BUSY to pay attention. So here is the story...
December is the time of year for the big school Christmas sings-always a big event for us grade school parents-we dress our kids up, charge our cameras-Heck I even take the whole day off and get a front row seat-it is just a tradition, a rite of passage we all do and don't even give a second thought.
So I am busy with my double duty job when I notice the ramp we use for the xmas program at my school is not up for one of my wheelchair students on the day of the program. I had been gone the day before so asked the custodian why, he says he heard the parents didn't want their child going up there. I go back to my assistants to find out what was going on. She explains to me that the mom really wants the daughter to be on the stage because she loves to be part of things and enjoys it, the dad on the other hand says no and everybody will just stare at her. They had a fight and the mom came to school crying about it. Mom says she will come early and pick her up to watch the program-maybe. So mom shows up the morning of the program-red eyed and with the little girl dressed in the most beautiful forest green velvet dress I have ever seen and watches the program with her before she takes her home. The day continues to be crazy, my weekend was crazy and I don't think alot about it-until tonight.
As I tuck Q in and we talk of Christmas I think of this mom-wanting her daughter to be like everyone else and showing her off like we all want to do with our kids. And the dad-still grieving and wanting to protect her from hurt and embarrassment-like we all want to do with our kids. And I think what would I do-NO REALLY-which road would I take-which choice would I make? Could I really see my child sitting there surrounded by 40 other walking, talking, dancing children? I don't know, I really don't.
I don't have to bathe my child every night, feed them through a tube, change them, dress them, hold them as they cry and not know why they are crying, never hear them say my name and to that I am humbled beyond belief. That I have an opportunity in my life to hopefully be a small part in the families lives I touch, to accept their child and at the same time remind myself of how LUCKY and BLESSEd I really am.

So this is my really small moment in a really big blog. I don't have these often, I don't think I could do my job well if I thought about all the sadness all the time, but sometimes I need to let it sink in and think about to remind me of what this life we live is really all about.