for esme

I have been waiting a few days for this post. Mostly because I didn't know what to say. Early New Years morning after coming home from a New Years Eve party, a coworker of mine was killed in her home. I didn't know her well, but I knew her well enough to know that she was an awesome, always upbeat, fun person. Something I have learned since Monday is that she was really big in the music scene. There is a benefit for her next Friday and apparently a lot of awesome bands are playing. (I'm not cool enough to know those bands, but Esme was.) There is also one already in the works in Brooklyn, New York! I said I didn't know her well. But who knew?

It's scary that it was a random act of violence, and scarier that he is still out there. 3 girls were attacked within hours of each other on her street, the other 2 girls were lucky enough that they weren't killed like Esme. Living alone has never been very scary for me. After this, I will be making sure my doors are always locked, and I have pepper spray near my bed. Some of the girls at school are staying with friends for the rest of the week, another's mom came in to stay with her. It is a scary time right now for girls living alone. It makes me think twice about walking around outside in the dark, something I don't mind doing.

Today was our first day back, luckily it was only us teachers. It was a hard morning talking about her, sharing stories, and discussing what we do now. How do we tell the kids? Tomorrow will be a scary day with the kids. But like Amy said this morning, we need to think about how Esme would handle it. She would walk in with a huge smile on her face, and love on her kids all day long, and make them feel safe. So that's what I'm going to do.

Above is something a coworker's brother created. We wore stickers today with this image. It has already spread to so many non-school people across Facebook. You will be missed Esme.