Violence

I debated addressing this at all here. But because I'm recording this journey in part for my kids, I thought this was too important to gloss over or pretend it doesn't exist. So this is a letter of sorts to them.

To my boys in ten, twenty, thirty years, I achingly hope that you don't live with the routine gun violence we do in 2016. Three words that should never be in a sentence together: routine, gun, violence. I'm writing this on the heels of a shooting in Dallas, Texas, targeting police officers, which is only the most recent of many shootings involving workplaces, nightclubs, public spaces, and even schools. And my heart hurts for the victims and police, their families, people of every color who are underrepresented and disenfranchised, our country, and a very tiny part of me even aches for the shooters in these atrocities who are blinded by hate, mental illness, evil, mob mentality, whatever it is that drives them. There's a sense of uncertainty in our country right now and a pervasive, vague, underlying distrust of people on the other side of the aisle (democrats/republicans, pro-gun/anti-gun, black/white, native/immigrant, the list of divisive options is endless).

In the midst of moving, I simply cannot devote much mental space or energy to dwelling on the violence and pain. Packing boxes, planning the drive, registering the three of you for school, setting up utilities, daydreaming about the new house, all of these are welcome, trivial distractions from the much bigger national picture. There's a little escape for me in wondering if the beautiful home in the small town we're moving to will somehow be safer than San Diego. This is completely irrational, of course (we are generally safer than any other time in history, and we live in a remarkably safe place right now), but it's a fantasy that lets me believe I can keep you safe.

Here's hoping that we've come to some national agreement on guns and ways to combat violence that require compromise from all sides but don't vilify entire groups of people. And if, God forbid, we haven't, I hope you guys can be part of the solution.