I heard news late Sunday that they found Cecilia Zhang’s body in a ravine in Mississauga. That’s really… crappy. I think I can be forgiven for saying so here. Cecilia’s story is a nightmare to all parents everywhere, and our hearts are with her family this week.
However, while we mourn, we should remember that, yesterday afternoon, millions of children everywhere continued to live safe and happy. Erin and I walked through Monarch Woods in the gathering spring and we heard them laughing and playing.
We should always be careful around our children, that goes without saying, but I don’t want this tragedy and the news of others like it to change us. The world outside of the television is not nearly so frightening that we need to be paranoid. We should never lose our respect of strangers, and we should never fear indiscriminately. Society is not falling apart around us. For the overwhelming, near unanimous majority of us, we will see our children live and grow and laugh and cry. Our children will live. We must let them live. We must let ourselves live. To do otherwise is to let the terrorists win.
The parents of Cecilia Zhang were robbed of this, and that is simply terrible. Let us continue to love our children and live, in her memory.
 | Bridge over creek in Monarch Woods |
 | Old Man Tree |
 | Erin’s shadow on the water |
 | Man walking his dogs |
 | Some pollution in the stream |