Cherish your loved ones today
Sometimes people are just too involved in their own lives that they forget about what surrounds them. Sometimes the total opposite happens and some people get so absorbed in their surroundings that their lives are blurred.
At Lindhurst High School, there are many things that are overlooked. I would like to share something that doesn't only affect LHS and its students but the community as a whole. This year, Lindhurst experienced a tragic loss. One of our beloved teachers, Tim Green, lost his newborn daughter, Lydia Rose Green, to a condition called diaphragmatic hernia.
This condition, a birth defect, left a hole in the baby's diaphragm, which allowed her organs to move into her chest cavity and caused her lungs to be undeveloped. Lydia was transferred to San Francisco for further treatment, where she spent two weeks in the extracorporeal membrane oxygenation machine. She appeared healthier, yet as time went on, Lydia passed.
How does this affect LHS? Not everyone at the school was aware that this happened. However, the hearts of those who did know wept for the loss. Lindhurst's Interact Club hosted a donation dinner as a way to raise money for the advancement of finding a cure for those who are diagnosed with diaphragmatic hernia.
LHS senior Linda Kong was greatly moved by the event and by the loss of Lydia. Linda was one of the members who participated in making the donation dinner a reality. She said her prayers go out to all of the Greens.
"Our community should put into thought that the teachers who are teaching our kids at school, the ones who gives our kids their education, they too also have a family of their own. The support from parents and students may give the teachers more strength on teaching and doing their job. A good school environment is one with smiling faces, both students and staff," Linda said.
Trinity Counts, one of Lindhurst's math teachers, said, "In our community, it would be great to have a way to reach out to those in need and to know when there is a need. Some communities are bigger than others, so this is difficult to do, but if we allow Lindhurst to be a community, then the family — teachers, staff and students — should learn and want to support each other in times of need.
"I think in some cases it is difficult to share our personal life, as a teacher to our students, because students come and go, but if we open the door a little, then we allow more joy to enter our life and heal some of our pain," Counts said.
A person's loss is another's gain. In this case, heaven gained Lydia; however, my community regained hope. The message here is to cherish your loved ones, for tomorrow may never be.
Marisa Vang is a senior at Lindhurst High School. Her column appears every six weeks in Education.
