Community’s pain and suffering won't soon be forgotten

Our hearts go out to those affected by Monday’s shootings in Meadow Lakes, where a mother and child were apparently murdered in their home.

The details of the case are slowly emerging, and there will be time to more fully investigate and comment on the circumstances surrounding the murders. Rather than doing so today, we want to use this space to express our sympathy to the family and loved ones of Renee and Dean Millard, who by all accounts were happy, healthy, positive and productive members of our community.

When the dark shadow of tragedy falls on a small town, we all grieve as one. You’d be hard pressed to find anyone in the Mat-Su who didn’t either know the family or know someone who does. Living in a close-knit place is a wonderful thing, but these ties that bind us together in triumph also have the power to pull all of us into the grief that comes with the pain and loss such as we’ve recently experienced.

Perhaps no statement is as misleading as the common aphorism that time heals all wounds. Some wounds never heal, and some tragedies are so enormous in scope that their impact is felt for years and even generations to come. Time will not heal the loss of these two people from our community, and we should not pretend that it will.

However, that doesn’t mean despair should rule the day. As we move forward from the tragic events in Meadow Lakes, the most productive thing any of us can do is fight the darkness of despair with love and support for our neighbors who are grieving.

If you know someone who has been affected by this event, please don’t hesitate to reach out to them. Sometimes a kind word or gesture can mean the world to someone who is struggling to emerge from the depths of despair.

Many local children will also be affected by the fallout from this crime. Classmates of the dead boy will likely have many of the same questions adults have, but they won’t have the same maturity to understand the gravity of the situation. That’s why it’s important to talk to kids about their feelings and explain to them that even though bad things do happen, they’re still safe and loved. It’s also important for children to have access to counseling — which the Mat-Su Borough School District is providing — for anyone who feels they need help talking about this unspeakable tragedy.

Today we mourn not just for the Millard family and their friends, but for the loss of innocence we’ve all experienced due to this ordeal. It won’t be easy to heal from this tragedy, and it will be impossible to forget it.

But if we talk to each other, comfort those affected, offer shoulders to cry upon, and generally show compassion and understanding to all involved, we will someday be able to wipe away this flood of tears that has washed over our community.