Halloween, Election Day, And Hope
[ Memorial for Officer Timothy Brenton where he was murdered at the corner of 29th and Yesler ]
Last year while out trick-or-treating with my two small children in the Central District we all heard the gunshots that killed 15-year old Quincy Coleman. This year I was out of town on Halloween but my wife was home to hear the shots that killed officer Timothy Brenton.
Last year, a few days after Halloween, Barack Obama was elected president. And though that could could never make up for a senseless, tragic murder, it did provide a much needed rebuttal, showing us—as the universe has a habit of doing—that hopeful things can happen in the midst of the worst.
This year, here’s to the prospect that today’s election delivers hope in the wake of another local tragedy. Because it’s all related. Because if we don’t start taking better care of our most vulnerable, if we don’t start making hard decisions to prepare ourselves to thrive in a world of limited resources, then we are setting ourselves up for a very tragic future.