Grief

My heart is heavy. It’s the news. It’s the trial in our home town for the death of George Floyd. It’s Daunte Wright. It’s Atlanta. Kenosha. Indianapolis. It’s gathering stories under the shadow of a Confederate statue. It’s visiting lynching sites. But it’s more than that. It’s how quickly each event is spun and re-spun, then spun again. It’s how animosity instantly takes root in … Continue reading Grief

Caught off balance

When the news from Orlando came out, I was caught off balance. Two months earlier, one of my daughter’s best friends took his own life. We knew Danny struggled with some depression, so we tried to keep a caring eye on him when he was around. But he spent his last day with our family at our farm…laughing and singing, lounging in the hammock and … Continue reading Caught off balance

Kim Book

Kim Book’s 17-year-old daughter, Nicole, was murdered in 1995. She recalls that a year later, at the trial, she forgave the young man who had killed Nicole, and the act of forgiveness opened the door to peace in her life. Several years later, Kim founded Victims’ Voices Heard, a restorative justice program in Delaware that brings victims and offenders together in an effort to find … Continue reading Kim Book