When I finally got home tonight, I felt like I’d spent the day being beaten with sticks.
I care a lot about kids. It’s one reason I love my job. But today–it’s very hard for me, seeing crying children I can’t help. All I could do was get them signed out quickly, so they could go home and cry.
I didn’t know Eryn. She wasn’t one to come to the attention of the Attendance Office. But I know some things about her now, from the people mourning her.
Every last one of her teachers had red-rimmed eyes today. Even last year’s teachers. It seems like everyone knew her, and children from all three grades claimed her as their best friend. Children from all three grades, even though she only had a little over a month to get to know the sixth-graders.
Last year’s report card was nearly straight A’s, and the teachers said things like “enthusiastic, hard worker” and “This is a great student! You should be very proud.”
When someone dies, you always hear what a great person they were. I don’t know how that works, but this girl really does seem to have been loved by all. It seems she was “popular,” in the best way possible. Everyone loved her, and she loved them.
She had a great smile, and she used it often. And we are going to miss her.