I did a thing today.
School buses go by my house, and I’ve been wondering if I could put some kind of sign in my yard that might interest kids. My first choice was a list of banned books. Nothing gets a kid to read like saying, “Someone thinks you shouldn’t read this. They think you can’t handle it.”
And then I read about a town that was dealing with teens whose mental health issues were leading to tragic outcomes. A woman there wanted to offer encouragement to those who were struggling, and her yard signs were born.
I ordered some. They arrived today, and I put the first one out.
A few weeks from now I’ll rotate this one out and replace it – there are 10 in the set. My friends at church have volunteered to take the “used” signs and give them some time in their yards. We’ll pass them around until the ground freezes.
I remember times when a random comment was unexpectedly helpful, and I hope this will work the same for someone else. It’s not as good as therapy, but on a tough day, maybe it’ll help someone get through.
This was such a great idea, and I’ve seen them throughout town!
During the darkest days of the pandemic when most of us (who were paying attention anyway) didn’t leave home, Anya made up a bunch of positive signs that we hung in our living room window facing Grand! I still have them somewhere, though some ended up a little worse for wear — that window tends to leak during the worst storms, frustratingly.