What a week. I feel like I’m starting every Sunday post with that sentence lately, but seriously.
On Monday night, a pit bull puppy showed up outside my front door. Clearly someone’s pet, this gray boy was huge and so friendly, but definitely lost. All he wanted to do was play with Rambo (who was understandably freaked out). Luckily, we found his owner thanks to the Nextdoor app—which my neighbor told me about after Hurricane Irma—but it was a good two hours of searching and keeping our eye on him to make sure he was OK and didn’t leave our area until his owner showed up. Turns out the family had just moved to our neighborhood and he escaped; he’s reunited with his family now.
On Tuesday, Sarasota flipped a seat in our state legislature and elected Margaret Good as our new representative; she won with 52.2 percent of the votes. It was amazing to watch the returns come in, and—like the elections in Virginia and Alabama last year—I felt a flicker of hope or the future.
And then on Wednesday, as we all know, everything came crashing down. I don’t have anything to add about the tragedy in Parkland that others haven’t said far more eloquently, other than that I am so angry. Angry that the right to bear arms takes precedence over the lives of our kids. Angry that the NRA has a vise-like grip on so many of our leaders. Angry that kids these days have to go through mass shooting drills at school. Angry that America is the only country in the world where these tragedies routinely take place. Angry that our president’s response was to essentially blame the victims. I know a lot of you are angry, too.
However, the one bright light in all of this is that the kids of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School are saying “B.S.” to the usual “thoughts and prayers” response. They are calling out our politicians, tweeting to the president, organizing walkouts and proving that they will not accept the status quo anymore.
And another good thing this week, one that reminded me of the goodness of people, even in the face of everything happening in our world: my sister-in-law Lindsay is dealing with complications from her second bout of breast cancer (ugh), including congestive heart failure, on top of other physical problems from her disability. So I asked on my personal Facebook page if people might be willing to send her a get-well card—or, as she calls them, a “goodwill” card—because she loves getting mail, and the response was just…overwhelming. She’s gotten 20 cards in the last three days, and I know she’s going to get many more. In these very dark times, my friends and family are shining lights, and I am so grateful.
I hope you’re having a good Sunday and that you’re finding some joy. If you’re in the mood for some reading, here are a bunch of links I bookmarked this week.
This is depressing but necessary. “Four Truths About the Florida School Shooting,” by Adam Gopnik.
Three places to donate in memory of the Stoneman High School students: Everytown, the Brady Campaign and K9 Comfort, which sends comfort dogs to locations affected by tragedy.
OK. Let’s have a shot of sunshine now, in the form of Ellen Bennett’s colorful L.A. home.
The Obamas’ presidential portraits are stunning.
This clean shampoo and conditioner are the best I’ve found.
So is this guy.
Stacy London gets honest about money. This is so good.
How to break up with your phone. (I need to take this advice.)
The accidental wedding dress. I love Caroline Donofrio’s writing.
This piece—about a lost strain of rice and its influence on the African diaspora—is wonderful.
The Afrofuturistic costumes of Black Panther. I can’t wait to see this movie.
Photo by Lucy Laucht
