A letter to my grandchildren
On Sunday your Grandmother and I attended church. We had a visiting preacher from Dallas, Texas, to speak, since the congregation is searching for a new minister for our church.
He prefaced his remarks with the statement that he was not up to his best efforts for the day. I thought him under the weather but then he remarked that since he lives in Dallas he had attended a memorial service for the fallen policemen who were murdered there while protecting people at a mass demonstration of black lives matter.
His next remark stunned me to say the least. You see, he has two sons ages 12 and 14. There are seven of you under that age, only Landen is older. None of you have known a day in your lives where there was not some sort of violence going on in this world.
Not a single day without war overseas or complete chaos here in the United States. People shooting each other, school shootings, a young man shot or stabbed or beat to death every 14 minutes in a big city like Chicago, New York, Memphis and, yes, Columbus.
A news commentator remarked that this latest shooting of police officers was “The new normal” for the United States. Well I say, No! I will do whatever it takes to influence you and others that this is not normal. We are a close family and we must influence others to join our family. I’m open to suggestions and I always listen. Let’s join together and make this world a better place.
Earl Windle
Caledonia
The Dispatch Editorial Board is made up of publisher Peter Imes, columnist Slim Smith, managing editor Zack Plair and senior newsroom staff.
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