You all might remember this post from a while back. A couple of months later, that same area served as the backdrop for what proved to be crucial event that led to the arrest of the killer of Jessica Ridgeway. This isn’t a crappy neighborhood. This is an affluent neighborhood where we all learned a lesson in vulnerability. I won’t pretend to know how Jessica’s parents feel. Theirs is the most horrible loss anyone can suffer. At least now maybe they can have a sense of closure, although the arrest of a seventeen year-old kid doesn’t necessarily make anyone feel much better. This is a kid who went to school with my eldest, three blocks down the street. This is my neighborhood, and for a time it became a police state. I see it on TV and somehow feel a disconnect I can’t quite explain. I no longer let my kids roam the neighborhood like kids should be able to do and don’t know if I’ll ever feel comfortable doing so again. This is a sad time not only for those of us who’ve spent the last month warily eyeing our neighbors, but for the human species as a whole.
Hold your kids a little tighter tonight and pray for Jessica’s family.