I appreciate Chuck every day, and even more when he’s out of town. Today Jaron wasn’t feeling well and needed to be picked up, and he would have called Chuck if he were here. Chuck would have taken him to his dentist appointment too. Since he works from home he would have been home with Jaron while I was at work and I wouldn’t have worried about Jaron being home alone. I will appreciate that more after today.
At work I support six schools but the majority of my time is spent at my old junior high school, where I share a room with 3 other people. Today one of them told me about the lock down drill he experienced the day before. Our room has a glass wall so you can see through to the hallway. This is not safe in an active shooter situation since they can see into the room. As a result, he wasn’t sure where to go and ended up in a classroom across the hall. If someone had actually been in the hall with a gun that would not have been possible. There are other glass-walled rooms on campus and we wondered what they do. I told him about a real lock down the year before when the person with a gun on campus was not in the building so I was able to go into the hall to another room.
Shortly after this discussion was over, a group of 6 men, including the school police officer, stood in the hall where we could see them looking at our glass wall and talking. One came in to ask us what the room was used for, who is usually in it and what do we do during a lockdown. Then a couple of the men measured the glass. I assume they are either replacing it with bullet-proof glass like what was recently installed around the library, or putting mirrored film over it so you can’t see inside.
My heart was heavy, seeing how this school has transformed. When I was a student here it was a completely open floor plan that didn’t even have doors. Now it’s a fortress complete with high locked perimeter fencing, closed and locked classroom doors, & bulletproof glass.
After work, I took Jaron to the dentist & talked with my mom on the phone while his teeth got cleaned. She recently has been dealing with a health issue but was feeling better today. Jaron didn’t have any new cavities.
Back at home I walked my dog, Lucy. She’s friendly and likes to say hi to other dogs. She sniffed a hello to a dog about her size who was on a leash held by a young woman. Suddenly the dog was loose and attacking Lucy! I kept trying to pull her away from it but it was relentless and the owner seemed frozen. She just stood there while I screamed for her to get her dog off Lucy, who was fighting back, and it was terrifying. As I yelled at the dog to stop and the girl to control it, Lucy’s collar slid off and she was off leash too. This ended up helping as I now had both hands free to grab the other dog’s collar and pull it off Lucy, & the fight was suddenly over. The young woman put the harness back on her dog, incredulous that it had come off, while I checked Lucy for wounds. I didn’t see any, but the other dog was bleeding behind its ear. I offered to the girl to clean the wound at our house which is very close but hers was too and we parted ways, shaken & shocked.
Back home Lucy seemed okay but I checked her again and found a puncture wound on her chest. Worry!! What to do? She let me clean it with soap/water, then peroxide, then antibacterial ointment. Again I appreciated Chuck who couldn’t help me in person but called and talked with me as I took care of her wound.
When Lucy was all cleaned up and settled it was time to go to a birthday dinner. I felt bad leaving Lucy & thought about not going but didn’t want to miss celebrating with a very dear friend. After spending time with 3 amazing ladies, I appreciated that they are in my life, particularly the birthday girl who was diagnosed with breast cancer ten years ago. I am so grateful and lucky that she is now cancer-free and still in my life.
I came home to a happy dog and a sleeping son. Lucy seems fine. I’ll keep an eye on her wound and take her to the vet if it gets worse.
Finally I appreciate that though it’s the end of a day that was a lot more stressful than usual, and my throat is still a little raw from yelling during the dog fight, I feel calm, and didn’t drink or stress-eat. I’m grateful for that, and that Jaron is feeling better & his teeth are good. My mom is feeling better. Lucy seems okay. I got to spend time with friends. And Chuck is coming home tomorrow.
Max aka Skippyjon Jones is sitting on me and purring while I write this. I appreciate him, too. Even though he vomited on my comforter. ❤️
No comments:
Post a Comment