Last night I got a text message from a co-worker. She shared that a third grade boy at one of our after-school sites, a kid from a single parent family, lost his mother and sister in a horrible car accident yesterday. He rode with them to school. At 6 pm when our program closed, no one came to pick him up. That was very unusual. Then the news. He spent last night in foster care.
He lost his mother and middle school sister and then had to, at least temporarily, go, alone, to a stranger’s house to spend the night.
I don’t know the kid. I don’t know much about his situation. Yet my heart aches for him.
This little guy now has to navigate life without the two people who were his foundation. His world turned upside down.
I’m thinking about what must be going on in his mind today.
Two weekends ago I spent the day at Elon University with Stephanie. It was Men We Love weekend with her sorority. It was likely designed for dads but knowing not everyone has a dad, they broadened it to men.
We spent a little time with her crew at school, but mainly we had an almost full day together. We laughed and laughed. Talked about her future. Talked a bit about mine. Saw the better part of a football game and an acapella concert together.
I cherish the time I get, especially one-on-one, with those I love. It might be the most meaningful of all.
None of us knows how many more days we have left on this earth. Man, I want to spend more of it intentionally building connections with those around me.
That’s the important stuff.