Turning Darkness Into Light

It was the moment I found out that one of the dearest, sweetest, kindest students I ever taught, Gabby Kennedy, was senselessly murdered (along with her precious and loving mother, Krissy). Yes, right here in Bristol. Domestic abuse of the worst possible kind, it was.

As I type these words, my stomach is beginning to churn. It’s almost as if I’m hearing about this heinous crime again for the first time. Such horror and heartbreak, once endured, never completely leaves our psyches.

Although it had been several years since I had taught Gabby at Van Pelt Elementary School, we had stayed in touch on Facebook. When I heard the tragic news of her death, I decided to look back at the last message she sent me. It nearly ripped my heart from my chest. “I love you, Mr. T.” she wrote. “I always will.”

Indeed, that was Gabby’s constant message to the world, my friends; a message of love and light, to everyone she ever met.

Despite her unspeakable suffering (abuse had been going on for a long period of time), Gabby maintained an uplifting spirit. She tried so hard to turn her darkness into light.

God only knows what depths of darkness Gabby had experienced and hid behind her ever-present smile. God only knows what unspeakable horrors she endured during her young life, especially during her last moments in this world.

But knowing Gabby, I do know this; she would want us all to strive, as best we each can, to turn darkness into light. To forgive what seems unforgiveable. To go on loving people, no matter what. To bring goodness and justice to this world, each in our own way. As best we can.

If we can learn to turn darkness into light, my friends, then Gabby and her dear mother did not die in vain.

I am about to write down right now all the good reasons why we should be using violence as a primary method to solve problems: _____________________________

There. That didn’t take long.

I taught two nights a week at the Bristol Jail for nearly twenty-five years. During that entire time I never once accepted an excuse from a man for abusing a family member. I told them that I did not want to hear it. Plain and simple. (I must be quick to add here that the vast majority of the inmates I taught at the jail would never molest or murder a child. These men were most often incarcerated due to the illegal use of drugs.)

Once upon a time, another former student of mine was murdered in Bristol. At the tender age of fourteen, Jessica's life was also taken from her in the most brutal of ways. Jessica was every bit as gentle and sweet as Gabby (seems the meanest among us often seek out our meekest angels).