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Lillie Grace & Susan Montoya Celebrate Leadership Four days before school ends in May, Ali received a death threat on the playground. I have a gut feeling that there will be more to this story, but life being life, I never see it coming the way it does. I think the troubled boy (not in Ali’s class this year: the principal keeps her word) will resurface to taunt or bully her or her friends further. No signs of that....But what I never consider is that Vice-Principal Montoya will offer a haunting coda to this story. Due to low enrollment, Vice-Principal Susan Montoya is assigned to another school for this fall, after six years at Georgia O’Keeffe Elementary. A beloved fixture of GOK, and in gratitude for her service, the school comes together and gifts her a desire from her Life’s Bucket List: a balloon ride. Three weeks after Montoya pledges she will keep Ali safe, she and her husband, along with two of their best friends, take that ride. The balloon crashes and all aboard are killed. It is the deadliest balloon ride in the history of New Mexico, home of the world's largest balloon fiesta. My first thought is how she had reassured me that she understood my concern for my daughter’s safety: “I’m a mother and a grandmother,” I keep hearing her tell me. But who would keep her safe? Both girls cry upon learning the news, because when school opened in April, Montoya would daily stand at the front doors and greet every student. By name. “She always made me feel like she was happy to see me every morning,” Lillie tells me. I later discover that Ali writes an email to the principal (also a beloved figure) to let her know how sad she is and see how the principal is doing. I had only interacted with Montoya twice in our isolated seven months at school, and still her loss hits me hard. The first time was also over the phone: she called me in February to let me know that Lillie Grace is student of the month. The call went something like this: “Is this Lillie Grace Rosen’s mother?” “Yes” “This is Susan Montoya, Vice-Principal at Georgia O’Keeffe.” “…Um…OK” “Oh – Lillie is fine. She’s not in any trouble. In fact, I’m calling to let you know she has been chosen as student of the month.” “What?” “She won a lunch from Jason’s Deli.” “Sorry? Wait – who is this?” Turns out the school celebrates “Student of the Month” for the student from each grade who best exhibits Steven Covey’s Seven Habits of Leadership. Being new, we had no idea. When I’ve mostly recovered from the surprise, Montoya offers to drop the celebratory lunch off at our house that Friday, since the building is still closed. Not wanting to inconvenience her, I tell Montoya that we’ll just stop by the school and pick it up. Looking back, I wonder if maybe she was looking to get out of school, to connect, to meet this Lillie Grace on her home turf. I imagine (based on our second call) that much of Montoya’s days were spent troubleshooting and disciplining. Celebrating the kids who strive, who care, would be a highpoint of her job. I wish I had dropped the mantle of self-sufficiency I was raised under and accepted her offer. In any case, when Jory drives Lillie to pick up her lunch, Montoya makes a point of coming out to meet and congratulate her. (photo above) Disturbingly, a few days after school begins, as if to remind me of the threat, there is a school shooting: Albuquerque’s first. At a nearby middle school during recess, 13-year old Bennie Hargrove tries to protect a classmate who is being bullied. Hargrove is shot by the aggressor and dies. The reporter who covers the story for the AP Wire? A woman named Susan Montoya Bryan. (What. Are. The. Odds???) When the girls and I tuned in to the zoom funeral for our Susan Montoya and her husband in July, it was a huge celebration of who she was, how she lived, and what she loved. It dawns on me: she died while fulfilling something on her bucket list. Living on the edge. That we should all be so lucky!! She went out, no doubt in terror, but fully ALIVE. This resonates with me strongly, because daily I brace myself to call my parents. They are both wasting away, miserable, heartbreakingly tired of life. I don’t even know what to say to them anymore. I dread asking them how they are. I see Susan Montoya on her balloon ride from a grateful community, drifting through the clouds, soaring on the wind, and I am inspired. We're all going someday, why not while doing something we've always dreamed of doing? Another person who viewed life from on high, French tightrope walker Philippe Petit, discusses life as this: Life should be lived on the edge. You have to exercise rebellion: to refuse to tape yourself to rules, to refuse your own success, to refuse to repeat yourself, to see every day, every year, every idea as a true challenge."
5 Comments
Lauri
9/3/2021 01:07:28 pm
Wow. Just wow. <3
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Linda Morton
9/3/2021 01:20:13 pm
I am so sorry for the loss of Mrs. Montoya. I have a friend who teaches at GOK and it was a huge loss to everyone. But congratulations to Lillie Grace for being a leader.
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Steph
9/6/2021 04:00:37 pm
Thanks Linda. Yes, Mrs. Montoya was beloved and her loss is surreal! Appreciate your reading my blog.
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Silvana Horn
9/3/2021 07:00:00 pm
What a story! Wow! And I love your newfound perspective of Vice Principal Montoya going out with a blast (albeit the last minute or so).
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Steph
9/6/2021 04:01:21 pm
Thanks for reading Silvi. xoxo
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AuthorSteph: friend, writer, wife, mother, sister, daughter, lover of life, and of chocolate. Archives
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