proud.

photo copyright anne rayner/VU

i try not to talk about work much here at blog of joan, but i just want to say i'm extra proud to be part of the nashville university where i am employed.

on saturday evening, a 14-year-old boy with down syndrome named william went missing on campus. it was posted to the campus facebook page, and because i was checking the football scores (we were playing south carolina in an away game) i came across the disturbing announcement.

i asked my boy if he was up for a ride, and he said yes. so off we went, looking for william. as we drove, we talked ... about what to do if you get lost, what down syndrome is, and how important it is to know your address and phone number. my boy is so wise already, what a wonderful search partner he made.

(he was so sure we'd find william at mcdonalds. where else would he go?!)

the news went viral on the internet, students and medical interns took to the streets, neighborhood watch teams combed the campus, our police officers trolled the bars and coffee shops with flyers and flashlights.

after a few hours, i took the boy home, dejected that we had not been the ones to find william.

but soon i got the happy news.

within four hours of being reported missing, william was found, safe and sound, shooting hoops in the campus gym (he's a sports nut).

how proud i am of this community that rallied together so quickly. what a relief that he was found unhurt.

this photo has nothing to do with the story, but just kind of sums up how i feel about my employer today. when someone is hurt, or sick or needy, this is the place they come.

and when one of our own is in danger, we are there in the blink of an eye.