It’s been a few months, coming back here makes everything so raw again.  Dear Maria, full of grace, I hope that you are watching proudly as your son makes the good choices that he’s following now.  I pray that we can still honor you in our remembrances.  Sergey developed a program called the Phoenix Project in the beginning of the school year.  It is a violence awareness program that included presentations by people who have also been struck by violence.  Sergey hopes to reach out to people enough to maybe change the character of how we interact and hopefully bring peace here on Earth.  When Sergey received the Humanitarian of the Year award, he dedicated his award to you.  Mine wasn’t the only choked sob in the room, and again I saw the love you shared with everyone in this small community overflowing from clenched lips and teared eyes.

We miss you.