The Yellow Ribbon...

As I sit here in Arizona, eating an egg sandwich and drinking some coffee...waiting for Matt to come back to me from work...I started reading emails again. This week has been so emotional. I can't even begin to tell you how emotional. I find myself typing through tears and my heart breaking for two families I have never met...it's strange to have something affect you so much that you weren't a part of.

On Tuesday morning, my schedule was thrown. It was Passover so Eric had the kids. I stopped by their new school to register them and was snapping photos off my phone of the bike racks. They have never lived somewhere that SO many kids go to the public school...and ride bikes there. I got back in my car and headed to work. As I reached the exit for the toll road there was a ton of traffic. This is NOT the norm for our burb. So, I started playing on my email. Low and behold there was a major accident with a fatality not 500 feet in front of me.

I am part of a yahoo group for people that live in our burb. There are over 1000  people on this group and they email about everything. So, I knew I could get my answers there as to which way to get to work...I am still finding the best routes from our new  part of town. As I kept reading, I found out that a child was killed. He was ejected from an SUV. This, of course, totally shook me up. I did a u-turn and drove to work.

As I checked email at work, more and more was discovered. The child was driving to school with his carpool and the mother driving lost control of the SUV when she was distracted by one of her children choking. All of the kids were belted in but this boy, 7 years old, was somehow ejected from the car when it rolled multiple times. He died at the scene. The police are not sure if he unbuckled himself to help the choking child or if he slipped out or what. The other three children and their mother were unscathed.

So, I then found out that this child lives in my neighborhood. He has two sisters and a ton of friends. He is a member of a very popular church there. This community...minus a few ridiculously immature women who made this about themselves...really came together.

This little boy's funeral is today. On Good Friday. Of Easter weekend. His favorite color is yellow. So, this community of families has spent the last few hours lining the streets of all of Sienna, along the path from the funeral to the family's house, with yellow ribbons. All of the neighbors are standing along this path in yellow clothing....to show their support to this family that is grieving...and to the family whose mother was driving. So when they drive home from burying their little boy, they will be lined with his favorite color. It is a such a small thing in such a hard time but it will mean so much at some point.

And the fact that this community is rallying around the mother driving...and have forgiven her already for something that was obviously a huge accident and tragedy (minus the few women that have publicly acknowledged they could not forgive)...makes me so proud to be there. So proud.

So do as I did and hug your babies today and every day!!! Love your neighbors, love your friends, forgive easily and try to understand...no one has any place to judge someone until they have literally walked in their shoes.