Skip to main content

Red Ribbons...


Photo: Laura Fong/WKSU

As my busy week unfolded into a similar type
of weekend, 
so did many other families...

It seems many of us are getting back to 'business as usual', since the recent incident at Chardon High.

News stations are now highlighting their normal stories, schools are done wearing red and black, and most of us parents can sleep again.

What does all of this mean?

It means we are all going forward with our lives, as planned...it's what we do...it's what we have to do.

Though, today, nearly a week later, as I drove down a long, country road...I was reminded...there are some who can not resume a normal life.

In the windy, bleak, overcast day, I counted about twenty or more red ribbons tied to telephone poles; ribbons flying in the wind in front of dealerships, in tree lawns and at the local clinic.

Though I was not immediately aware of the significance, it was pretty obvious (Chardon's colors are red).

I was reminded todayof what happened, and that it's not business as usual for some.

Those families whose children died, or were severely injured, have a long way to go.
Similar to 9/11, the actions are unfathomable, and the healing seems impossible, but like life dictates, we must go on.

Healing takes time, and each individual does it differently.
If you were directly affected by the Chardon High School shooting, here are some ways to heal after tragedy, by people who have been there:

Arizona Shooting 2011-Gabrielle Giffords
Arizona Shooting 2011-Christna Taylor







Popular posts from this blog

Back to School Anxiety: Bullying

Download “School Boy Being Stressed” by David Castillo Dominici via freedigitalphotos.net I recently wrote about how to help your child if they’re struggling with going back to school because they were bullied. My biggest most important tip was to listen, because I honestly could not write a ‘How-to-make-them-not-afraid’ column. Frankly I thought that was absurd. Fear is sometimes real. Anxiety is sometimes truly there, and for a good reason. Our job as parents isn’t to try to make it go away, it’s to try to find out the true source of those worrisome feelings. If you’d like to read more, click here. And if you’re child is struggling to find excitement about the new school year, don’t deny it, just accept it and move forward gently. Here’s some more on bullying: Family Matters Links: A Touching Story/Song Bullying: A thing of the past A Peace Poem By My Teenage Daughter A Deeper Insight into My Thoughts on People Who Bring Harm to Others Other Links: Stop Bul

Green Punch Buggy....!!!!

Green Punch Buggy...No Punch Back! As I was writing this blog post, my son came to me showing off his Lego creation. And don't you know I got hit at least five times since on my computer screen was displaying at least five different punch buggies, of five different colors thanks to Google Images. (Bad timing I'm thinking...) How can we possibly have world peace with these silly cars in the world!? ;) Don't the owners of these cute-but-obnoxious-cars understand that driving these things around town promotes violence!? ;) Anyhow.... The original purpose of this blog was to ask parents everywhere this question: Do you find yourself saying 'PUNCH BUGGY *BLANK-COLOR*! '  to yourself, even when the kids are not in the car??? I do! Isn't it funny how those games we used to play as a child are still around? I bet our parents say the same thing.... HAPPY FRIIIIIIDAAAAYYYY! P.S. I got hit at least ten more times, since as my son stood beside

Good Customer Service At Home

Over the years, my careers have mainly been customer service based. I started in a family business and then moved on up through the rungs from waitress, to hostess, to sales associate, manager and eventually the GM of a hotel. In all my years, my training taught me that you should always do your best to take your customer all the way to what they need, make them happy, and never leave them until they are done with you. I pride myself on my customer service abilities. Though the other day, I think I failed at customer service in my own home! I was getting ready to cut my daughter's hair and because of how long it had gotten (she's been growing it out for a year!) I felt this time it would be best  if instead of me spritzing it with water, she could wash and condition it real quick. She was fully clothed so I just suggested she run into the bathroom and wash her hair in the tub. She’s fourteen. I suppose I just assumed that she knew how to kneel over the tub and do it.