Memorials
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Our classmate, Pat Doyle, has died. I didn’t receive the news from a call on my phone. Instead, I received it via status update, which scrolled across my screen like any other on my birthday as I thumbed through friends’ updates and birthday wishes. Wendy’s words were stuck somewhere between a meme about Mondays and…
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Saturday morning, January 25. I am working on my syllabi for the upcoming spring semester, feeling pretty good at what I have already accomplished. I pour another cup of coffee and begin to look ahead at what still has to be done. Still so much to do, so much. So much. At 11:32 a.m., I…
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“No matter what happens in life, be good to people. Being good to people is a wonderful legacy to leave behind.” These words were written by 24-year-old Colleen Ritzer, the Danvers High algebra I teacher who was murdered in the school bathroom last Tuesday. The alleged murderer is a 14-year-old student in Ritzer’s class. The…
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On this first day of the vernal equinox, I find myself caught between the stunning and brilliant images of early spring (in some ways, this week has been as colorful as autumn’s peak late last October) and the heavy heart I carry for the loss of loved ones in springtime. Just a few days ago,…
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Good evening…It is 9:09 p.m. Much to share about this day. But first, I must take a moment and remember Emily. Emily Davis was a student at my school, who was diagnosed with Ewings Sarcoma in February 2002. In the two years that she battled her cancer, she remained selfless and optimistic, immersed in her…
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It was six months ago tonight that I checked Facebook one last time before going to sleep, and my heart just collapsed as I read the status updates: RIP Casey, Casey I ❤ U, Miss U Casey, among others. I started texting friends, then making calls, then realizing that this world just lost a most…
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Emily Davis was never a student of mine. I never even met her in all her young years as she changed the lives of so many while battling cancer. Yet, when she passed away five years ago on this day, I found myself mourning her death as if I had known her. But I did…
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There’s an emptiness here that is heavier than I’ve ever felt. It’s just a little after 2:30, less than 24 hours after you died, Casey. I’m sitting here alone in our room, 701, that you and Kelsey called your own for so many years. No music plays, and I keep staring in the back area,…
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