Today I am holding in my heart two people who died on this day – one in 2022 and the other in 2020. In 2022, a mass shooting in downtown Sacramento killed six people. The location of the shooting was at 10th and K Streets – both a center of nightclub life and of the unhoused who oft3n hid in doorways and alleys. One of the dead was Melinda, known only to service providers and a few friends. Her name became public only when she became a statistic. Betsy was a homeless woman who could neither read nor write. She was abandoned by her family and with the help of Interfaith Shelter was able to qualify for benefits and rent a studio apartment. Betsy had a deep wisdom and a trust in the goodness of life. She was one of my best teachers.
