Sibling comfort

I just saw an ad in Erie Co. by the County Executive of Onondaga County. It brought back one of the most touching experiences of my career in education. When I was Vice-Principal at TJ Corcoran High School, a Special Education student was being bullied. She ended up in my office. I called for her brother & sister. She was a senior and they were a junior and a sophomore. As the siblings knelt on the floor next to her and comforted her, they each held a hand while tears ran down their respective cheeks. They were from a very large and prominent family from the Strathmore area. It was beautiful to observe the love and sensitively they had for their sister. The County Executive, a Republican, was in an ad for the Democratic Governor Andrew Cuomo. She spoke of how Gov. Cuomo had done so much for New York State and how she would be voting for him because he was the best candidate. She is Joanie Mahoney and she continues to be the woman that I saw in that kneeling, loving child so many years ago.