Bonfield girl, 12, battles cancer for 3rd time

Zayla Mitsdarffer glanced up at her mother. Tears that had formed in the corner of her eyes began to find their way down her swollen cheeks.

The conversation that had started out in a lighthearted fashion had turned serious, and it was beginning to overwhelm the 12-year-old. The brave face that had been on display on this warm summer night in rural Bonfield had vanished like the sun that had set only minutes before.

She tugged on the army-style hat on her head. Her eyes began to fill with moisture. She glanced over to her mother seated to her left at the wooden kitchen table.

Her mother looked back. When their eyes connected, the youngster's lower lip quivered, and she buried her head into mom's waiting arms.

"Sometimes it just gets to be too much for her," explained her mother, Christy. "We have our good days and our bad days.

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Bonfield girl, 12, battles cancer for 3rd time

Zayla Mitsdarffer glanced up at her mother. Tears that had formed in the corner of her eyes began to find their way down her swollen cheeks.

The conversation that had started out in a lighthearted fashion had turned serious, and it was beginning to overwhelm the 12-year-old. The brave face that had been on display on this warm summer night in rural Bonfield had vanished like the sun that had set only minutes before.

She tugged on the army-style hat on her head. Her eyes began to fill with moisture. She glanced over to her mother seated to her left at the wooden kitchen table.

Her mother looked back. When their eyes connected, the youngster's lower lip quivered, and she buried her head into mom's waiting arms.

"Sometimes it just gets to be too much for her," explained her mother, Christy. "We have our good days and our bad days.

View the original article here

Peanut allergies in the cafeteria? Bonfield school is ready

A lunch box favorite is on lockdown at Bonfield Grade School. And a Bonfield preschool student's allergy to peanuts is the source.

Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, a school lunchtime mainstay, will be closely monitored to avoid a potentially dangerous allergic reaction for the preschool student. The student is highly sensitive to the product, said Bonfield principal Dennis Pankey.

Pankey recently sent a letter to the parents of all 273 students at the pre-school through first-grade school asking for their help in this particularly sensitive yet not unusual situation. But it's the first time in Pankey's 25 years as a principal that he's faced with such a situation.

"We're trying to be proactive," Pankey said. "We certainly don't want a major problem."

While Pankey is not banning PB&J sandwiches, he is asking that parents who send snacks to school not send any that contain peanut-based products.

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