there are many things I wish I could tell this girl, almost 3 years ago, fresh wounds of grief gaping open. constantly attempting to distract herself. learning how to live with a new reality. mastering the art of compartmentalizing. begrudgingly rediscovering who she was as Tessa, not Tessa&John. making lots of mistakes. marching down a path she didn’t ask to march down, but forging on nevertheless.
there are SO MANY THINGS I could tell her, but mostly I’d tell her this: it’ll be different, but it’ll be okay. it’ll even be sweet. breathe, baby.
The tutoring hour at @indysow always begins with a writing prompt. Last week we started with a question posed by @michelleobama: “Do we settle for the world as it is, or do we work for the world as it should be?”
If you have $10 to spare today, please consider donating at the link in my bio to support @indysow’s incredible kids, volunteers, and programming, working hard for the world as it should be. Your dollars directly benefit some of the over 5000 (yeah: five. thousand.) kids experiencing homelessness in Indy. Thank you 🧡 #sharetheloveindy (photo sneakily snapped by fabulous tutor and person, @kelseyrowles 🤓)
our photographer just sent me these and I am obsessed 😍 jokes. but when you donate to @indysow, you help create space for moments like this: a meeting with an amazing mother currently living in a homeless shelter with her children, looking to have one her of sons evaluated for a potential autism spectrum disorder.
I’ve gotten to know her son through our tutoring sessions 3 nights a week and love watching him come out of his shell when he receives that one-on-one attention from our fab volunteer tutors. he loves to read and would do that all day long if you let him, but with a little encouragement, he’s able to practice his spelling and math facts, two areas he struggles in. if you’re ever lucky enough to meet him, he’ll ask to use your fingers to help him count when he’s already used up all of his own. he counts by tapping his nose with each finger, so he’ll lean towards you so you can tap his nose to count anything over 10. the giggles this produces from him will make your heart bubble over. that’s an @indysow guarantee.
your dollars support educational programming just like this for kids experiencing homelessness all across Indianapolis. please consider giving whatever you can - every donation counts. 🙂 link in bio ❤️
