Just have not been feeling it, but this helps



This has been a hard school year for me. Besides the day to day of my job as school librarian, I have been trying to empty my mother's house since June that she lived in for 62 years. This has taken a lot out of me emotionally, and the act of sale is mid-January, so there is not much time left to finish it all. Also, the little aches and pains of aging are starting to catch up with me. I really need the two weeks off from school that starts on Saturday. 

As I was cleaning around my desk and filing some papers away today, I found this letter in the way back of my file cabinet. I don't remember the student or the year that she wrote this to me, but, boy, it has it put a smile on my face. Sometimes I forget the little things that I do have a huge impact on the students that I see everyday. To me this just helps reinforce that librarians do make a difference. 

If you click on the image of the letter, you can enlarge it to read
Bitmoji Image


I am going to take some time for myself over the holidays and also time to have fun with family friends. When I return to school in January, I am going to try and keep Sabrina's voice in my head so that I remember that what I do matters. 

Comments

  1. @GwynethJones - The Daring LibrarianFebruary 9, 2019 at 11:38 AM

    This post touches me so much. I want to hug you from Maryland, Elizabeth. My heart goes out to you as you work through your grief. Grief is bad enough, but working to clear out a house of a loved one who is gone, I can only imagine, has got to be both emotionally and physically draining. Every thing is a memory, every thing sparks both joy and pain. Each item sparks a memory which reinforces the loss.

    I don't know how I will do that when it's my turn. I think I will take the cowardly way out, pick out meaningful items, and ask a company to buy or clear everything else out. My Mom is my best friend and as she gets older I panic thinking about how I will cope with her loss. It is only my faith in God and heaven that I will be able to go forward without her daily presence in my life.

    But my heart soars with happiness and joy that God (or or Goddess, Yahweh, Buddha, or fate) put that letter for you to find when you needed it most. I keep a digital happy Flickr gallery with pictures of notes from kids and colleagues. I also have a folder of Happy Tweets, too!

    This past year I have been going through grief, mourning, and impotent rage at the senseless murder of a dear friend. I've hinted at it in my blog, and yet you were more brave (or should I say more daring?) than me by writing a full blog post. Out there. Honest. Heartfelt. I only write short passages at the bottom of other blog posts because I didn't want to show that much vulnerability to the world. It makes me feel so awkward. I find it so much more comfortable to be deeply shallow.

    Thank you for your bravery and my heart and prayers are with you and yours as you move from the dark and into the light. I admire you so much.

    I also hope praying for you isn't insulting or puts you off. Faith gets me through the hard times but I know and respect the fact that every one has a different belief system. Good thoughts are like prayers.

    ~Gwyneth

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