I was back in court today. Again. I was listening to the bail arguments for Haynes. After disappearing into chambers – aka behind the scenes court time – the prosecuting attorney walked out and came straight over to me shaking his head. For whatever reason, the judge decided to let Haynes try probation again. This…
Tag: emotions
11-1 Legal: This Time with Feelings
There are 32 seats in a courtroom. We, the community of people who showed up to support me, Jason, and our families, filled those seats exactly. The victim’s advocate had never seen the courtroom that full. The attorney had never seen the courtroom that full. This is what community looks like. That also served as…
10-30 Victim’s Impact Statement
Six months ago today, Jason turned 32. At 9:30 in the morning, he died in a stupid, preventable car accident. I am supposed to summarize a lifetime in a few minutes. This is yet another impossible task in six-month’s worth of impossible tasks. I could spend hours telling you about Jason, about the person he…
10-21 Right-handed Driving
I used to drive left handed. I don’t know if I drove this way because I learned to drive on a manual and needed the right hand to shift, or if this is a habit I developed later. I know that in the Camry, the space between the seat and the window and the steering…
9-15 Another Metaphor
Imagine your life like a stained glass window. You have things that center the image – for me, it was Jason and my family. There are other things that make up the image – pets, hobbies, work, friends, passions. There are probably parts that are less pretty, too, because we all have them. The whole…
8-30 Grief: A Metaphor
Our minds have a landscape. Each person builds their own landscape over the course of their lifetime. Over here is where the filing cabinet with phone numbers and your Social Security Number is. And this is the path you take every morning when you get up and put clothes on. And this is the cul…