Another Loss

I've always heard that bad things happen in "threes". When I saw some of my graduating peers at Michael's funeral, I told them I didn't want to see them for a while. Not because I don't enjoy their company, I do, but because it seems as though the only time I really get to see most of them is when there is a funeral. I had only been home a few days when I got a text letting me know someone else from our small town was killed in a wreck. I don't think I knew who she was.

Today, I got a call from a friend letting me know that my former cheerleading sponsor and current Superintendent of my old High School was killed in a vehicle wreck today. Not even 5 minutes prior to the phone call, I was thinking about her daughter and wondering how she was doing. Her daughter, Jamie, is pregnant with her second child and her oldest one is almost a year.

This will be the eighth funeral my home town has had since right before Christmas.

Paulette was a very strong and focused woman. When I was in high school, her husband was a basketball coach and she was a teacher and my Varsity cheer coach. She always expected the best from every single one of us. I remember going to school one day and someone asked me how I was doing. It had been a rough day and I just started crying. It just so happened, it was right in front of Mrs. Smith's door. As soon as she saw me, she pulled me inside and told me to dry it up, that I was an example to the other students and I shouldn't be crying. She had no idea what happened and I was only 16. That moment left a strong impression on my mind. I didn't realize it at the time, but she was trying to teach me that when a leader is up, they're up and when they're down they're still up. My actions and responses always have the chance to affect someone else whether it's positive or negative. It wasn't too long afterward that I decided I wanted to try to always have a positive approach to things and to try to keep my emotions in check.

Thank you Mrs. Smith. You will be missed.