One of my favorite photos is this one that I took of Dad holding his Grandchild Jason and gazing out the family room window in our house in Houston sometime in the ’80’s. Dad would be 104 this next Tuesday.
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With 6 wildfires in Arizona burning over 250,000 acres and 2 in Southern New Mexico, the wind is now bringing us the smoke. Not good for the eyes or lungs but the sunset was nice this evening so there’s that.
Protest at Minneapolis City Hall in December 2015 for Jamar Clark Photo: Tony Webster / Creative Commons
Assume for a terrible moment… that you’ve lost a loved one.
And at the funeral, I come to you and say, “I’m sorry for your loss but, everyone dies eventually.” Or, “All deaths matter.” Would that be helpful to you?
What if I say, “I’m sorry, but your loved one didn’t eat right, was a criminal or shouldn’t have been doing the act that caused their death.” How would you react?
What if I went into a long exposition about all the loved ones I’ve lost and how I felt each time. And how I know from experience that you weren’t grieving the right way? Would you appreciate my insight?
What if I burst in during the middle of the service and yelled about the “thugs” who are rioting because of this death and how unfair it is that people are making your loved some kind of hero. Would you be receptive to that?
Maybe the best thing would be to attend the service, offer support, listen to those who knew your loved one and keep my opinions to myself… because my viewpoint would only marginalize the feelings of those who are the most directly effected.
Maybe by listening, I could learn more about your loved one and have a better understanding of who they were and what they faced in life.
Maybe that’s how those of us; who don’t experience racism on a daily basis because of the color of our skin, should act.
Growing up in Houston, I heard these bugs every Summer. At times it was pretty loud when they would all reverberate together. You could also find the exuviae (or exoskeletons they would leave behind after moulting). When we first moved to Texas, I found tons of these bug shells still clinging to the trees around the house so I carefully removed a good number of them, attached them to my shirt and then ran into the house pretending I was attacked by insects. Nearly gave Mom a heart attack!
Unusually cool temps in the 40’s in June (!) encourage us to go on a hike up near the Santa Fe Ski Basin on our favorite trail along the North Fork of Tesuque Creek. We discover infestation!
