TO THE EDITOR:
On my way to campus this past Saturday — the purpose of which was to support those running and walking in the fifth annual Eve Carson 5K — I tried to explain to my 6-year-old son who Eve was and why there’s a race named after her.
Trying to find the delicate balance between being honest with him about the circumstances of her death and not wanting to burden him with the horror of it, I chose to focus on our community’s attempts to make sense of the tragedy by honoring Eve’s life through such expressions as a road race, a scholarship and the planting of a tree in the Arboretum.
As we talked, it occurred to me that a lesson I’ve tried to teach both of my children — that our sadness in the aftermath of tragedy is a measure of the love we feel for the people we’ve lost — is one that I need to learn myself.
As racers approached the finish line, organizers and morale boosters whooped and hollered their encouragement, and in doing so tapped into their own inner Eve Carson, who whooped and hollered with the best of ‘em!
As the fifth anniversary of Eve’s death approaches, it is a certainty that the vast majority of those who organized or ran in this year’s race could not have known Eve, yet the enthusiasm and, dare I say, love that has been so evident at every Eve Carson 5K since 2008 is genuine.
And as wonderful as this event is, I believe that the best way to honor Eve is to recognize that the same wonderful and well-deserved qualities we associate with her exist within us too.
The recognition of these qualities is not a violation of humility, nor is it placing ourselves above Eve or anyone else deserving of admiration.
It is an acceptance of responsibility for maximizing our positive contributions to the world. The students who organized this year’s 5K deserve to be recognized for their contributions.
