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Christi Diggs
on May 23 2013 - 06:00 AM
A drop of spin, a cup of deception and tsp. politics=Apathy
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Lindsay Metcalf
on May 22 2013 - 06:00 AM
When that tornado siren sounds, I'm in the basement
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mara williams
on May 21 2013 - 06:00 AM
Summer break has this mom on a house upkeep war path.
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If there’s anything that I learn over and over in the face of tragic news, it’s that we never truly know what goes on in the hearts of others.
The past 36 hours have been terribly sad for many of us in Kansas City. Some lost a friend. Some lost a role model. Some lost a family member. And many lost a good morning laugh.
Don Harman and I were not close friends, but we worked many events together and knew each other well enough to share stories about parenting and personal aspirations.
When I last saw him a couple of weeks ago, his grin grew wide as he gushed about his daughter and how he looked forward to bringing her to Jiggle Jam next spring. He said how grateful he was to have a job in these trying times, and he even put that in perspective with his quirky wit by saying, “Eh, it’s just weather.” Then he added, “I’m livin’ the dream.”
I’m deeply saddened that his dream came crashing down around him. And many of us are trying to make sense of the tragic loss of someone so full of life and laughter and childlike goofiness. I can’t help but think of Smokey Robinson’s Tears of a Clown:
“…there's some sad things known to man
But ain't too much sadder than
The tears of a clown, when there's no one around.”
The lesson in this for me is that I can’t make assumptions about anyone, and even those I think I know well might have a heavy heart that never reveals its true self.
So, what do we do in the face of loss and grief and anger and questions and things that don’t compute? We do the one thing we’re called to do – love.
When it comes down to it, love is all we have (and all we need) to offer the world. We can’t change other people. We can’t fix them, and we can’t “make” them feel better. We can listen and encourage and just “be” with others, but change is up to them.
So please, go out there and love those around you. And flash a little Don Harman smile to those you don’t even know. It’s contagious.
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