Can't Find Pollyanna in Just in Case

*I typed this entry up last night, but it apparently vanished. :(
I’ve always been a person who tries to find the best in everyone and every situation. I truly believe, if given the chance, most people will choose to do the right thing. When people prove me wrong, my heart gets a little wounded, but I find a way back to my Pollyanna ways. It’s been harder, lately.
School is …stressful…this year. There’s a lot of extra that’s been added to my plate, and I have a couple of students who are incredibly challenging. Sleep has been very hit or miss, money is an issue, as always, and I’m so ready to find somewhere that’s not thing house.
Then, last night I caught a double whammy.
The first is more me having empathy for my aunt and uncle. They are the ones who came here from Arizona about 10/12 years ago. About 4 years ago they lost a grandson to suicide (he had dealt with major brain damage from alcohol and drugs), then, about 2 years ago they lost that boy’s dad, their son to complications from diabetes. Now, his 2nd son is in the hospital facing possible amputation of one or both of his legs. My uncle is here by himself, while my aunt, cousin, and her middle daughter (the one who was in the horrible wreck last year, who we thought wouldn’t make it, and is still facing a lot of brain damage) are in Vegas with the grandson in the hospital. (Cat has been out of the hospital for months after 3 or 4 months in icu. Add that to the health issues Uncle K has (he’s a Vietnam vet who has a lot of health problems), and you can see why they are struggling. The poor young man has mental challenges (from birth, not drugs) and he has been living in a halfway house. He got some sort of illness, including an infection around his heart. Then the strokes started. He’s in such bad shape. My aunt and uncle are living on his social security and retirement. Now they are paying for the 3 of them to be in Vegas and I don’t know how much they are having to pay for his medical bills. So, that made me sad and hurt for them.
Then I got the notification from one of my former kids that one of the kids I used to teach at my old school had passed away. (I say kid, but he hadn’t been a 5th grader for almost 12 years.) Such a sad situation. He was a passenger in a vehicle that was hit head-on by a log truck. He left behind a 3 year old daughter. :( The pictures now show a young man, but I still see the silly 10 year old who loved cracking jokes. So my heart is a little broken.
It was a long day at school today. I couldn’t sleep last night. So, I was exhausted. It was a long day with a few behavior issues and some technology stress. I’ll spend tomorrow with my parents, celebrating my mom’s 75th birthday. I’m hoping to just put it all behind me for the day and just enjoy the family time. I almost lost it today, one of my kids came up and asked me if she could give me a hug. I said sure, and she just wrapped me up and stood there hugging me, telling me she loved me and could tell I was having a bad day.