i'm back

thank you for the kind words, thoughts and prayers.

my 22 year old cousin was tragically killed in a horrific car accident while visiting Sierra Leone recently. she was a very smart young woman. i remember holding her when she was a baby and watching her grow and flower into the strong determined and beautiful person she became.

her loss has been very difficult for the family not only because she was so young, but because she was filled with so much promise and she dedicated her young life to her country and encouraging the youth to return there and help build it. her dad, my uncle, is really messed up over it and i'm going to try to be there for him and her brother. no replacement, but one good thing that's come from her passing is the way the community and families have come together. i hope we can continue in this vein and it won't take another tragic loss to bring us back together.

she certainly was/is an inspiration to us all. she will be sorely missed, but I know she is in a better place and I will see her again.

i've found solace helping moderate her facebook memory page, helping plan her memorial and in setting up a scholarship fund in her memory and honor. please email me if you want a link and would like to donate to the fund.

in any event, she was laid to rest, finally today. there will be a Washington Post news article about her life in the coming weeks so that more people can know and learn more about this incredible phenomenal young woman.