Thank you, Peter, for the wakeup call...and I'm sorry from us all...

“I read the news today, Oh boy!” and now I can’t sleep. I am wide awake, wondering, trying to make sense of it all.

The news comes - we hold our breaths, fearing death by choice….self-determining life’s end - but to what end? The why’s won’t stop. We feel the precious urgency of life interrupted. Now we are all wide awake - if only for this moment, wondering why???

How could we all have loved him more than he loved himself?
How can we love each other better as a result of these lessons learned, too late?
How can we see into the eyes of those who survive life’s wild ride and let them know they are beloved?
When will gaze into our own mirrors, love what we see, and assure ourselves that life is worth living — still?

February’s grey skies, blizzards, and polar plunges take their toll on us all in Chicago — keeping us cocooned, trapped inside with our own inner demons. We know neighbors sit next door; we can see their screens aglow and we absolutely cannot survive without connecting to them. And yet.

Will we wake in time to greet the light in each other’s eyes instead of the candles that burn through darkness in tribute to their lives’ lost?

In memory of Peter Traczyk: Thank you for the wakeup call! We will do better to love, to connect, to make this a community you would be proud of.