Some sad news. This past weekend one of my former students died in a motorcycle accident. Apparently, he was drunk and when his friends took his car keys away from him he took off on somebody's motorcycle and lost control, hitting the side of a store. He was booking so it couldn't have been a pretty sight. I'm glad nobody else was hurt or killed.
Jonathan was basically a good hearted guy. He was good looking, charming, talked incessantly and was a gifted athlete. He was also impulsive and his parents were not very involved, at least academically. He had some learning disabilities. I hate this kind of news. I've had other former students die. Two were shot in drug deals gone bad and another died of AIDS. They were all basically good kids with terrible parents.
When you've been teaching for a while, this happens. You lose former students. It comes with the job. Some make it and some don't. My husband taught math for so many years and he lost students as well -- to accidents, disease, suicide and one heroin overdose of a truly gifted pianist. Losing a student never ceases to shock us. All you can say is, "What a waste of a precious life."
When you work in an elementary school, though, as I do, you almost feel that you've lost one of your own. I see these kids every six schools days from the time they enter kindergarten until they graduate in sixth grade. In some small sense, I feel I've helped raised them. If only we could do something to prevent these tragedies.
