AUTUMN PASQUALE
For those of you who don't know this name, I'll enlighten you.
This is Autumn. She lived in my tiny little town. A little over a week ago, she went missing. The whole town came together to find her. When they found her 3 days later, in a recycle bin, we all wanted justice. The same day they arrested two teenagers who lived TWO BLOCKS from my house. They killed her for her $200 BMX bike. Don't get me wrong, it's a nice bike, but she was a nicer girl.
The funeral was this Saturday. Today is her 13th birthday. I talked to one of her relatives yesterday, and I understood how he felt. My cousin, my best friend, was brutally murdered when I was 17 years old. She was days away from turning 22. She never had the chance to get married, or have a child. Now, neither will Autumn.
This has rocked my little town. Everyone stood outside to say goodbye to her. But, we are also scared. Nothing has ever happened like this. Not even close. I have a 7 year old daughter, and now I'm afraid to even let her talk to people. Autumn knew her murderers. She trusted them. So, our mindset is now, who can we really trust?
That is what has been running through my mind lately. And I seriously hope we take a good look at how our lives are. We try to mind our own business. We try to raise our kids without being strict, or ever punishing them. When I was growing up, I had a whole neighborhood raising me. I was well behaved because I'd get hit, or my neighbors would scream at me. Maybe if we were more like that, Autumn would still be alive. We should be a COMMUNITY. We should help each other, and love each other. Stop being so private, and start caring more. Maybe we can change the world.... or maybe we can just save a life.
Beautiful post Trish.
ReplyDelete