 | Bob Gabordi is executive editor of the Tallahassee Democrat and Tallahassee.com. He can be reached through this blog, at bgabordi@tallahassee.com or (850) 599-2177 |
It’s been hard for me to get into the mood for Christmas this year, which I will forever remember as a year of losses and sad news.
Jobs were lost. Joblessness in Florida is at 11.5 percent, with more than a million people out of work, some my former colleagues in an industry particularly hard hit by the economic downturn. The Florida joblessness rate is the highest since May 1975 and less than half a point lower than the state’s record. Beyond the numbers are the people and families so devastated in this economy.
Sadly, we watched for the past few weeks live on Tallahassee.com as a jury considered whether a young man, Deneilo Bradshaw, would be sentenced to death for his role in the murder of Rachel Hoffman. Bradshaw’s two children will grow up with their daddy in prison without the possibility of parole, pending appeal. And Hoffman’s parents will be deprived of seeing their daughter’s wedding or getting to hold their grandchildren.
Lives were lost. We’ll not forget easily the death of 26-year-old Curtis Brown, a bystander gunned down as violence erupted at 4 a.m. in the Circle K/McDonald's parking lot on Lake Bradford Road.
Nor will we easily overcome the loss of another good man, Tallahassee Police Officer Michael Saunders, who was cruelly killed by a hit-and-run driver while the veteran officer was off-duty.
And, as all families mourn their own losses, at the Tallahassee Democrat, we continue to grieve the sudden death of our friend and co-worker, Steve Ellis, and the stories he will no longer tell us.
It has been a tough year all around.
Yet, walking with my son along the white sandy beach at Bald Point State Park during low tide this weekend, I was reminded of the ebb and flow that is life’s natural process.
I thought about the joy of quiet moments like that one with my children, those already grown and those who soon will be. I thought about the birth of a co-worker’s grandbaby, the marriage of two others and the planned weddings of others and of my daughter.
Watching the birds hunt for food in the shallow pools along the beach, it was a reminder that for every Bobby Bowden and T.K. Wetherell who blesses us with their presence and then moves on, there is a Jimbo Fisher and an Eric Barron ready for a chance at greatness.
I began to think about the dozens of readers who have written about our partnership with the Christmas Connection, the joy they find in helping other families and about the good people at the Democrat and in other businesses throughout the region who work tirelessly for good causes.
I thought about my daughter Jessica and the love so many readers and others – some complete strangers – shared earlier this year when she was badly injured after falling at school.
Somehow, walking along that nearly empty beach, it began to feel a lot like Christmas.
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