When you can't be there.

Having just woken up on 8/26/25 I am emotionally hungover from the experience of an "active shooter on campus" threat yesterday. It is a beautiful morning and I as I sit outside writing I can hear the neighbors discussing their experience from yesterday as well. It was not your average day on campus, and it was terrifying for me as a mother.

My home and business are located one block off campus. My daughter was locked down in her class on campus. My older daughter is a new teacher at a local middle school. It is her third Monday as a new teacher and she was put on lockdown as well. Parents could not pick up their kids, teachers could not leave, everyone was trapped with only those around them for support. Uniforms were running through our neighborhood with automatic weapons and sirens were blaring from all directions for hours. This is not an experience any parent wants their child to have. Something that kept creeping into my head was how helpless all the far away parents must be feeling. My daughter, the teacher, was in the Dallas Convention Center Cheer Competition active shooter chaos last year while I sat here in Fayetteville and it was awful to not be able to go to her. Having had that experience so recently I immediately sent out a text to my clients asking what I could do to help.

Emergencies and unexpected events on campus are stressful—especially when you’re miles away. We were able to give parents a little peace of mind by being the trusted extra set of hands (and hugging arms) for their student. I was able to arrange some transportation for some kiddos, deliver some essentials to others, and coordinate accommodations for parents who were driving in immediately but, mostly, we checked in on students and asked them if they were ok. We mothered them. It isn't in our ads. It isn't on our google profile or our rack card. It is just humanity. In the end there were no physical injuries- for which we are grateful. Today we can breathe a little deeper knowing our kids are all ok. However, if you are anything like me, we are making plans for if this happens again.

I want you to know that we are here for you, our clients, when you need us. I am keeping every parent, student and teacher in my thoughts and on my heart today. Please let me know if there is anything I can do for your student.