It was Sept 18th. I’d found out the day before that I was to be executor of the estate after all. The following Monday, I had a family phone meeting regarding the discharge of my brother. After three months, he was to return home for in-home therapy and care. The phone rang. The parent on the other end of the phone was calling to tell me that his daughter, my niece, had died. Murdered. Domestic Violence. I sat completely numb on the sofa for hours. I couldn’t move. I couldn’t think. All I could do was sit in shock. How could this happen? How could another awful thing happen? Had the world finally gone crazy? Over the edge?

My friend said to me, “I don’t know how you keep getting back up after each blow.” I replied, “I take it one day at a time. All we have is today, and it is a gift. I woke up, so I need to be present and see this day through. Even if that is just sitting, numb, on the sofa, for several hours.”

I will go as slow as I need to with the executor crap and drag my feet when I want to. My brother is home now with a refrigerator full of food and Lyft rides set up for him to use. I canceled his mail forward, so he is in charge of his mail again. And my niece… I can fight for her, for women’s rights, for victims of domestic violence, for women to be leaders and present everywhere. I found out about my niece’s murder on the same day the notorious RBG died. And I’m pissed. Pissed that there was no mourning period after RBG’s death before the stupidity and indifference started up again in Washington, D.C. Never mind the fact that people are starving and need help. The legislators don’t have time for that in the nation’s capital. We can see what you all are doing despite your hope that we might not be so smart as you. And we will never forget this.

“Tzedek, Tzedek, Tirdof”

“Justice, justice, thou shalt pursue”

“Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness for Everyone”