I spent the morning today at a funeral service for 18 year old Kelly J. Thompson who was killed in a car accident last Sunday. I wanted to post this diary in her honor and make it a charge to myself to try to shine my light a little brighter in her absence.

Kelly is one of those examples of an apple that doesn’t fall far from the tree (as the priest said today at the funeral). Her step-father works on affordable housing issues and services for the homeless. Her mother is the director of a non-profit organization working with troubled youth, serves on her local school board and volunteers with the Girl Scouts and the League of Women Voters. They embody the idea of giving your life blood for peace and justice.

To demonstrate the loss we have all experienced (whether we knew Kelly or not), I’d like to offer the following, which is an excerpt from “Hope” written by Kelly and passed out at the funeral today:

“Has the human race not yet seen enough turmoil? Have we not witnessed enough death and despair to echo throughout the ages? Have the sands of time been cleansed by the blood of our ancestors? What drives us? What moves us to linger in this world when we are sure of our destiny? For the beauty of a rose is not etched into the stone of history. The laugh of a child does not resound through the ages. The march of a bloody sword crosses eons. Was hope given to our souls for a purpose? Are we naive in believing in all that is good? Smiles are so easily lost. Yet tears can be wiped away. Even the red blood will eventually fade. What drives this hope we hold so dear? What gives motivation to this flickering light? Yet somehow, through the shrouded darkness, somehow through the bleak despair, we can still admire the beauty of a flower. We are still able to hear that laughter which had left the ear so long ago. Hope is not fleeting. No, hope cannot flee when one still clings to its sweet reassurance. Hope is not merely an invention of the grasping soul. Hope is alive in all that still can reflect its never-ending glory. Hope is in a summer’s breeze. It thrives in what you can see and feel and even in that which you cannot. Hope is a boundless wonder that drives a failing heart. Hope gives reason to enjoy beauty and to cherish laughter. Hope gives reason to live when none should be granted. Hope is the work of a greater being. It is that of which human kind will never truly understand…”

I can only be humbled by Kelly’s wisdom at such a young age, grieve her loss and promise to myself that I will continue to hope.