This past week was National Victims Rights Week. In Washington DC, President Barack Obama made his official Proclamation, recognizing the importance of the week. In Sacramento, Governor Jerry Brown participated in a Victims Rights Week Rally. In Orange County, the District Attorney’s Office joined forces with Community Service Programs Victim Assistance Program and various victims rights organizations to hold a March and rally to recognize the need to continue to fight for the rights of victims and survivors of violence.
There is a whole subtext to these rallies that is so vital to the fight for the rights of those who were lost to violence- the family members who come carrying pictures of the loved ones they have lost. When we speak their names, they live on. When we tell their stories, they live on. When we fight for justice, they live on. When we work to create a future that is free of violence, they live on. I was very aware of this truth as I was approached at an event by a mother who lost her son to violence 30 years ago. She told me his story, and she told me of her fight to see his murderer stand trial. I knew all too well as we talked that her son would now be my age- and could only imagine who he could have turned out to be. She asked me “what case are you here for?” I stammered- oh, I, oh, no, I’m a Victim Advocate. She touched my shoulder, looked deeply in my eyes and said “thank you” in a way that no one has ever thanked me before. Tears welled up in my eyes. I kept my professional composure until later in the day, when I allowed myself to have a pretty good cry. Her son, Ben, lives on in me, and he lives on in all of us who help victims of violent crime, and I was honored to have that interaction with his mother.
This week, we will honor the anniversaries of both the Oklahoma City bombing and the Columbine High School Shootings. As the news coverage carries these stories, please take a moment and send some healing energy to all those touched by violence. They live on, and the veil is thin. Blessed be.
