Ashes Arise

Sideways

The New Year was ringing in bright, shiny, and new in 2017. I started my spring semester of college in Medical Coding. I poured myself into my classes and began looking for a new job to start saving for our future. 

My father was a Pastor at our local Methodist church in Delta. He was the Associate Pastor and the thing about small town churches is that they do not like change. My father was a person of action when he got that job. He was filled with purpose when he got that job after he lost his previous one. He had a spark lit in him to change lives and make an impact.

He ran youth group on Sundays nights, teen events in our homes on Tuesday evenings in our basement, set up church in a gym stage and all the night before church. He would then run the programs for flag football and basketball for youth Upward. I remember him coming home bone tired after putting all his energy into those young kids and they loved it. They loved his energy and the time that he poured into them. By the time he got to us he seemed to be running on empty for his own kids. 

Working their women would stare and gossip about our family. Our skin was all different tones of tan lighter than others some darker just depending who tanned the best over the summer. I remember someone of the older church ladies not liking us and not giving us a reason why. They would purposefully go out of there way to make sure the other church members didn't talk to us or that their kids didn't talk to us. 

One man in particular; Carl. He was the churches janitor and nothing more. Did he believe in Christ and have him in his heart? If he did in was harbor deep down in a rotting soul. He would send hate letters to our house; death threats. He would go around the town telling people how awful my family and my father was with false accusations. Spiteful people seemed to linger in this building and you'll see as I journey on further. 

As I was looking for a job my dad told me that the churches daycare Tender Times was hiring. A small daycare that cared for students infant through pre-k. I always loved kids and when I first started college education was the field I wanted to pursue. I worked in a Elementary during my first year of college, volunteered time in our public schools, and had years of child care experience. I was so excited for my job interview with the daycare. 

I walked into the Daycare and into one of their small classrooms for my interview. When I walked in I was greeted with three people. Crysti the Director, Tiffany, and Liz both Pre-K teachers. I remember the big clown smile on Crysti's face and how she directed me to sit in one of the child sized chairs across from them. 

The interview I felt went great. They asked me all the standard questions about how I would handle certain situations in a classroom, how I would manage a certain number of children, activities I would come up with, and strengths and weaknesses when it came to children. I answered all the questions with a smile on my face and the interview lasted what felt like a decent amount of time. 

I remember walking out smiling and feeling so confident and excited. She told me that she would call me in the next forty-eight hours to let me know whether or not I had gotten the job. 

Two weeks went by and I never got the call. I heard from someone that worked there that the interview was only given to me because my dad was a pastor there and it was only to satisfy him. Crysti disposed my dad and did not want to hire me and that was said in confidence or so she thought. 

I was crushed and said nothing to my parents and kept looking for a job. My dad however asked me one day, "Ashley when are you starting at the daycare". I told him I wasn't and left it at that. He went to Crysti himself because he knew it was about him and not me because they were still looking for new hires. 

I started working for Tender Times in February 2017. 

My first day I was put in the infant room. I remember my phone buzzed and I apologized and everyone started laughing. They were all on their phones and mine was up and on top of the fridge off of me and they either had it in their pockets or their hands. 

I loved holding onto the babies, feeding them, learning their schedules, and of course changing those stinky diapers. Time seemed to go so slow in the infant room as the babies cooed and rolled around during tummy time. 

Eventually I went and worked in the toddler room where I was greeted by Brenda, Paige, and Vickey. Brenda was kind and seemed to know what she was doing, Paige was always eating burger king and sitting down doing absolutely nothing but complaining, and Vickey loved to cause chaos and then leave the room. 

I loved the the toddler room because they were at that age were you could do circle time, gross motor, music, art, and just get messy; and have fun with it. I remember when I first got in that room how bare and stark it was. Holes torn in the wall from the paint chipped and I quickly covered it with the kids art work. We made glittery lady bugs and they hung so beautifully on the wall. 

I loved my shift because I would come in around nap and put the kids down, wake them up, set out snack, change them, and then get them to myself for the afternoon. We would have so much fun doing crafts and just getting to know each kids different personality was a real treat. 

The weather was warming up and it was finally warm enough to swim. The building was cool from the air-conditioning and it felt so good to go outside after being outside with hot sweaty toddlers. It was time for nap time and we got all the kids settled down and laid down for the two and a half hour nap time.

Brenda and I were sitting at our little toddler table during nap when I looked over at a little boy who was staring at the ceiling. I motioned Brenda to look over at him and she called out his name. He didn't move or blink. I slowly got up and made my way over across the room where he lay and knelt down beside him. 

As soon as I whispered his name he started to have a grand mal seizure. His body shook with such force  and I swiftly protected his head and moved him to his side. Brenda called out for help and turned on the lights. I instructed them to call 911 as he was not stopping and needed immediate medical attention. 

Luckily his mom was a teacher at the school and ran down to her son. I moved aside as she prayed for her little boy and tears streamed down her face. Seeing a mom in panic screaming out "Hail Mary full of grace...." and reciting a prayer gets your heart racing. 

Meanwhile we are also on the phone trying to tell the Director Crysti that a student has had a medical emergency and is being taken by ambulance. She was enjoying a day by the pool instead of being at work. This wasn't uncommon as she wasn't typically at work a lot and could be found out shopping or lounging else where. 

I just remember being so surprised by it all that day and we carried on business as usual. No one wants to see a kid in pain and the worry never left us that day until we found out he would be alright.