resilient

"One reason a dog can be such a comfort when you're feeling blue is that he doesn't try to find out why..."

as a parent one of the hardest things to do is sit back and watch when one of your kids is hurting.....its even worse when that hurt is emotional....

how do you being to explain why bad things happen?  it never makes any sense - not when you are young and not when you are old..... i know i touched on this yesterday....but today was so hard for the kids that knew katie.....and even harder because as teenagers, some kids (especially if they did not know her) have no understanding of what it means to lose someone.....by the time you've reached adulthood, unless you are extraordinarly lucky, you have experienced loss....you can empathize with those who are going through it.  when you are young, often that is not the case - so on top of struggling with these emotions, there is of course normal teen drama, and some fairly callous commentary.....and absolutely nothing i can do to ease this particular burden.

its one thing when your kids are sick physically - you know how to help & what it will take to get better...its an entirely different thing when the only hurt is on the inside.  i feel helpless and that's not a feeling i like - especially in circumstances like these.  so what do you do?  what kind of advice do you give to try to make someone feel better, when really there is NOTHING you can do or say that CAN make this better?

“However long the night, the dawn will break.”
- African Proverb

yes, as we grow older, we know these things to be true....death and loss never get easier, but we learn better ways to cope....we channel our energy better, or have more responsibility and less time to grieve....whatever the case, with age comes experience with loss.....its something i wish we didn't have to learn, but unfortunately we all do.

for jake, all i could do was be there if he wanted to talk (which he didn't), and try to relate......nothing that seems adequate on a day like today....

re·sil·ient/riˈzilyənt/ adj....able to withstand or recover quickly from difficult conditions

i know our kids are resilient....i know they will get through this, and whatever else life throws at them....because they are brave and bright and strong - and because they stand together and lift each other up.....and ultimately that's all we can hope for.  bad things do happen.....but so do good things.....we have to learn to power thru the bad, and to celebrate the good.....and so do our kids!