"Grief is a journey, often perilous and without clear
direction, that must be taken. The experience of grieving cannot be ordered or
categorized, hurried or controlled, pushed aside or ignored indefinitely. It is
inevitable as breathing, as change, as love. It may be postponed, but it will
not be denied."
Molly Fumia
Molly Fumia
As a teacher, I spend about the same amount of time with my
colleagues as I do with my family. For thirteen wonderful years I have been a
member of the 5/6 team at Birmingham Covington School. We formed, stormed,
normed and were performing like a well-oiled machine. The machine broke in
January with the death of one of our core members.
Fitz was not only a teacher at BCS, she was also a former student
and she was the heart of our crew. She was a passionate educator who strived to
help her students find joy in reading and writing. She brought the same energy
to our team and inspired us to work harder, push further and demand more of
ourselves and our students each and every day. Most importantly she made us laugh.
Oh, she made us laugh!
Fitz,your passing rocked our entire community. You touched the
lives of so many parents, students and colleagues in countless ways and your
impact is immeasurable. The 5/6 team shattered, so heartbroken at losing you so
young, so devastated for your daughters to whom you were devoted and whose
lives will never be the same. But as educators we knew we had to help our
students first. We have wiped away tears, listened to students tell their
favorite stories about you, understood when they lost focus, struggled to
concentrate or just felt anxious or sad. In nurturing the youngest members of
our community through this difficult time we have postponed our own grief and
battled on to make it the end of the year. But summer is here, the pace has
slowed, responsibilities have eased and now it is time.
I miss you. I miss you bouncing into school in your
ridiculous spring heeled shoes with a twinkle in your eye. I miss your enthusiasm,
your happiness, your capacity for mischief. I miss our rituals, our daily
lunches where we shared all of the ups and downs of life; the struggles, the
joys. I miss sharing books with you and spending hours on the phone discussing
the themes and plot twists, the characters and how they made us laugh or tore
at our heart strings. I miss your honesty and vulnerability which you were
always prepared to share. I miss your courage and your fearlessness in standing
up for what you believed to be best for kids. I miss your wit, your fire, your
vivacity, voraciousness and vim. I miss your aches and pains, your smiles and giggles.
I miss my friend and I always will, but now I am ready.
I’m ready to come out from under the cloud and start
thinking and writing again. I’m ready to embrace a world without you and face
the challenges it brings. I know when we return to school in the fall I will be
slapped with reminders of you everywhere and there will be sudden impulses to
cry as the realization of your loss sweeps over me again. But my sadness will
be eased with the support and love of my 5/6 team, my work family, your work
family. We will continue to work hard and be the best educators we can, forever
inspired and forever changed for having known and loved you.
