Some Perspective

I have a big deadline coming up this week for my dissertation, so I have been writing like crazy lately. I have been stressed out by the project, and about half way through my day today I was throwing a little pity party for myself in my head when the doorbell rang. It was one of my mentees in Homewood. He stopped by to tell me that his mom had been shot, and that she was in the ICU at a hospital in Oakland. He didn't have any way to go visit her, so he asked me if I would give him a ride to go see her. Suddenly, the problems in my head with my little dissertation project didn't seem like such a big deal in the whole scheme of things. I gave him a ride to the hospital and we were able to kind of talk through how he was doing with everything. His mom is going to live, but she will be recovering for a while. It's amazing how the city provides perspective in life. I used to think that my life was difficult, but I know that my mentees and neighbors face suffering in life that I could never possibly understand. The level of resilience and courage in my mentees is absolutely astounding sometimes. I wish the rest of the world could see what I get to see in them. Their resolve to persevere in life is inspiring. So, at the end of my day today, my project deadline still looms on the horizon but it's really no big deal, relatively speaking. It's not life or death. My heart is heavy for my mentee and his mom tonight, and I'm definitely praying for them.