the song of my people, terrible, loss

I went to visit my family for my youngest niece’s birthday. She had just turned two and I struggled with what to get her. Shopping for a 2 year old girl is not exactly my wheelhouse.

With a little guidance from my sister, I found a little tikes pink airplane. I was irritated by the pink – do all toys for girls have to have pink? – but the female pilot made it a little better.

The best part was the song it played.

Every time the wheels rolled.

Every.

Time.

By the end of the evening, all the adults had the song memorized. Several of them did a little dance when it came on.

I recorded it on my phone and may use it as a ring-tone.

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The two year old is cute, smart, and funny. But her wrath is a terrible thing. On Saturday evening she got tired and then got upset when it was time to put away the stickers. And by “upset”, I mean she totally lost her shit. Kind of stunned at this, I commented to my brother-in-law that this was pretty intense. With a knowing and tired shake of his head, he sadly commented that “no, it wasn’t”.

We did have a lot of fun and she’s pretty fond of her “un-til”, but you do not want to get on her bad side.

Two years old and already ruling the world. 🙂

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One of my tasks at work is to answer or route email that comes into the “webmaster” email account. In among the “How do I contact admissions?” and “Where is the student union?”, I got a terribly sad email. It was from a mother who’s daughter had passed away a few weeks ago and wanted her daughter’s name taken off our lists – the notifications were a reminder of what the daughter wouldn’t have.

It pretty much broke my heart.

I forwarded this to the right people and they are going to get the notices halted and will reach out to the family.

Today, the country is mourning the loss of a celebrity. But I’m still thinking about that college student who didn’t get to start classes this fall. And the mom who mourns when she gets another overly enthusiastic “Welcome to Fall Semester” letter.

I didn’t know this family. I didn’t have a connection other than getting and forwarding that message. But it still hit me. I guess that’s why I’m here – trying to help our students become successful in the world.

And quietly feeling the loss of those that don’t get the chance.