I want to acknowledge Craig Miller's suggestion about a day's silence on this list but feel impelled to share with the list this morning especially given the very extensive media coverage over the past 36 hours.
We've had a terrific double shock to our community in the death of Officer Melissa Schmidt in the line of duty and in the death of fellow resident Martha Donald. There's a seasoned bunch of people living at Horn Terrace. We have seen many hard things in our various lives and we have a finely honed sense of what is tolerable behavior amongst ourselves. We have family networks, acquaintanceships, and all manner of affiliations in and around our immediate physical settings and nuanced customs about all of this. But we weren't ready for Thursday night's tragedy. We have been deeply moved by the responses of the larger community to our immediate situation. We will never forget the prompt arrival of so many people Thursday evening ranging from the massive police presence to the many contacts we had from our personal families and friends to the arrival and sustained presence of senior MPHA management. Then we were astonished to find Mayor R.T. Rybak very much in our midst - not just talking to media and concerned professionals but coming right into our lives as a distressed neighbor. And he was far from alone. Senator Linda Berglin was impelled to come over Friday morning because she knows us personally and was horrified by what had happened and wanted to help any way she could. Council Member Dan Niziolek was also with us through much of late Friday afternoon and other elected folks and their staffs were right with us in spirit if not in the flesh. There were also a number of counselors with us through the early afternoon - bear in mind that post-traumatic stress is very real for those who have seen mortal violence and Charles Horn wasn't always a nice place to live. The media people were a constant presence for more than 24 hours and they were good people as shocked as we were about what happened and determined to give the larger world a comprehensive and respectful look into an injured community. And the kids! There was regular UNICEF contingent on Friday with mural art and many bouquets from the flower gardens and above all the gift of young eyes and hearts sharing our grief. This is a senior population and death is no stranger here. We know and accept that the sun is setting - just another part of humani generis. We also have disabled neighbors and they like us live their lives one precious day at a time. We have children and grandchildren and great-grandchildren who live with us or visit us or have us in their innermost thoughts. They remind us that unwelcome death is best faced in company with life that surrounds and buoys us up. We have neighbors from around the world - some of whom have seen unspeakable things - who now are part of our larger living whole and we share our strength and our grief because we can. There'll be a memorial event at Charles Horn during National Night Out Tuesday evening around 7:30. We're preparing food for the early part of the evening and have a band as part of what started out to be a community-building block party. As it will still be. We have losses to recognize but a community that lives on and we are deeply grateful for the good wishes and prayers that have come cascading around us. Fred Markus Horn Terrace Ward Ten _______________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A Civil City Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest option, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
