Sad Times in America

 

It's just a sad day. 

I watched the news events in Minnesota throughout the day yesterday. 

It made me sick to my stomach. 

It also made me angry that our nation has come to this, especially as the day wore on and as we learned more information about Alex Pretti, the VA nurse who was shot and killed in the streets of Minneapolis. 

It made me cry last evening when I read the message from his parents. 

I have many thoughts about yesterday but some are in their infant stages and they are my personal thoughts so I will not share them. 

What I will share, however, is that I believe we are experiencing some of the darkest days I can ever remember in my 78-plus years as a citizen of this country. 

It's difficult to know what to do or what to say to make it better. 

I believe that when these difficult times come, we need to pause and reflect on similar times which we have already experienced. 

What did we do after the initial shock of what had happened?  

What seemed to make it better for those involved and those who felt helpless in their desire to make the situation better.

One time, several years ago, when I was following a  hopeless situation with refugees in another war-torn country and feeling sad about their plight, I thought and thought for a long time. 

Then, I came up with an idea; it was called "Cash for Kosovo." 

Long story short, between our Sandpoint mayor Paul Graves and myself acting as cheerleaders, in about three weeks our community raised $18,000 through donations in jars and collections from students in classrooms throughout the district and from other substantial private donations. 

We saw that the cash went to through the proper channels, and we felt proud that we had done something to help some people thousands of miles away.

The effort not only helped me feel like I had done something of value, but more importantly it helped others who had felt helpless to participate in a good cause.  

Also, at times like these, it's vitally important to turn our focus on what we can control.  

One example that I have seen suggested is to "flood our legislators with our messages of concern." 

Their job is to respond to their constituents, so for us to express our thoughts en masse is vitally important at times like these.

This morning I received this note from my friend Gretchen who lives in Minneapolis:  

Please contact your Senators and representatives.  

Please ask everyone you know to do the same.  It’s hard to express what it’s like to be under siege by the Federal government.

It is absolutely overpowering and there seems to be no resolution possible.

Despite what you might be seeing in the news, the Federal government is not meeting with state and local officials. 

I’m guessing the rest of the country has no idea that the murders of US citizens on the streets of Minneapolis are not being independently investigated.

We must each Demand a peaceful and lawful resolution.

Minnesota is the canary in the coal mine for our fragile democracy. 

It's really hard to wrap one's arms around all these shocking events because there are so many layers and so many perspectives to consider.

Let us hope that in the coming days and weeks, some constructive and productive answers to how we deal with this situation and others like it across this country will rise to the top, and that we can move forward once again as proud Americans. 

For now, it's a sad and frustrating time in our nation.

Let's hope for brighter days.