Getting Back Up

Saturday at Cave9 was so wonderful, so perfectly the essence of what we want to accomplish there.
But the work facing Nick and I to make this continue is daunting. 24 hours a day is not enough.
And today Nick starts back at Altamont, limiting his time even further.
Yesterday, contemplating the overwhelmingly busy week to come, I had a crisis of confidence. Philip reassured me that we WILL make it work--and I've got to believe him.
Now I read this in the New York Times and am in tears:

People hit the Alabama ground the other night when another argument by gunfire broke out in Birmingham. Not everyone got back up.

I am so sad for LaWanda Russell and her family and friends. I am sad for the city.

When I was a suburban housewife in North Shelby County, this violence might as well have happened in a foreign country. But after a summer with Scrollworks, I know the places, I know the faces. I dread reading each news story, fearing to recognize a name. I want to keep close all those students that spend the afternoons with us at the Carver Theater and Cave9, knowing they are safe while they are with us. And I am so glad the one child we had banned from Cave9 for misbehavior (spitting coffee on people, hitting our cars with chains) has apologized and been welcomed back for lessons.

Economic circumstances allowed my children to grow up safe. Every child deserves to grow up safe. We need them all to 'get back up' because each contains a seed of hope for our future. I have seen the seed in the eyes of even the most difficult child.

Thus I am rededicated to continue, to work harder because I think, in the long run, MYO and Scrollworks can help.