"Students'
letters comfort woman after home explosion"
Letters from Romeoville students comforted a West Virginia woman
whose fiance and future mother-in-law were killed in a Thanksgiving
house explosion in Downers Grove.
The special education classes at A. Vito Martinez Middle School,
under the direction of teacher Patricia Frost, wrote letters to
Molly Wong, 28, of Lewisburg, WV, after she was injured in a natural
gas explosion during the Thanksgiving weekend that killed her fiancé,
Paul James Bowen, 33, of Charlotte, NC, and his mother, Kim Bowen,
58, of Downers Grove.
Frost felt the blast the night the home exploded, late Saturday,
Nov. 30.
"I live within four blocks where the tragedy happened. It shook
our house; we thought it was an earthquake," she said. "I was touched
by the story of a young girl coming up here to get engaged. I didn't
know if there was anyone here for her."
Frost was inspired by the school's Words of Wisdom program.
Every day, words of wisdom are broadcast across the school intercom,
encouraging the students to think positively and practice random
acts of kindness, Frost said. The words of wisdom that Monday
were: "How we love and respect one another... that's what's
going to help us deal with the craziness and uncertainty in the
world."
"Because her tragedy was so close to me, when I came to school the
Monday after the explosion, I remembered how nice it is to get cards
and notes when you're sick," Frost said. "The kids had heard about
the explosion and we discussed it in class. We thought "Wouldn't
it be nice if we sent Molly notes to let her know we were thinking
of her,'" Frost said.
All five special education classes at A. Vito Martinez Middle School
wrote letters to Wong that day.
"They were very enthusiastic about writing the notes," Frost said.
"These kids have suffered a lot of tragedies. They can empathize."
Frost delivered the letters to Wong at Good Samaritan Hospital in
Downers Grove that evening.
"She read them and shared them with her family," Frost said. "They
told me how much the letters meant to her."
"The cards lifted her spirits tremendously," said Laura Kinser,
of Bolingbrook, a friend of Wong's family.
"The cards were absolutely adorable. One read, 'I know how you feel.
I lost my best friend. He was my dog.'"
The next day, Wong's mother called Frost and told her Molly would
like to share her flower arrangements with the students. Frost picked
up five flower arrangements for each special education classroom.
"She was so sweet in her own tragedy," Frost said. "It made everything
come full circle."
Reprinted with permission
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