Reflecting on the weekend - Spreading Hope

Last night, as I finished class, I stopped by my office to collect reading materials to have with me for the evening. The phone rang (which I thought was odd) and it was a young woman from the Newtown Winterguard. She called to say "thank you" for the Hope For the Flowers book I delivered to her team at the WGI Northeast Regional in Rhode Island this past weekend. I told her that the books were meant to be paid forward and if she or her teammates need other books, let me know.

I also handed out the books (with gift bags) for my niece's team when they arrived to the hotel on Friday night. My sister and the other parents helped make the distribution possible. The bags had typical Crandall gimmicks: tattoos, rubber frogs, Easter candy and chips for the weekend.

I told the young woman on the phone that it might be a kind gesture to write the author of the book and that I was thrilled they were distributed. The parents chose to bring the box to the band director to see what he thought was the best policy. Some parents discussed with me at the show that the teenagers need to process the tragedy, but it has been hard. The book, they felt, was an outlet for them to discuss hope in the wake of darkness.

As the crocuses and daffodils begin to blossom, I'm hoping the butterflies will soon follow. The story is that pesticides and deforestation has greatly depleted the Monarch population (which makes me sad). I like to think that human beings mean well, but they truly do make terrible choices with their greed and "progress." Perhaps we all need to be reminded of Paulus's story.

I'm thankful to the #NWP community for their contributions and to all others who helped bring the books to southern Connecticut. May each of us find the better creature within.