Being in public

I went to cover a charity luncheon today -- a wonderful agency that works with women in trouble got $50,000 -- and ran into a ton of people I haven't seen since before Michael died. Some just offered a hug and said they didn't want to make me talk about Mike.

A bunch of them had read the column I wrote before he died and several said they had saved it; one even said it was hanging on the bulletin board at the office.

Of course, since I cover social justice issues and this luncheon was all about social justice, I knew a lot of people. What I came away with was that I need to keep pursuing justice for Michael. I can't bring him back and I don't want money. But I can work with the hospital that treated him so badly to establish a policy that sets consequences for failure to treat a patient with a life-threatening condition. I can ask legislators I know to try to make such a policy law.

I can't bring Michael back, but maybe I can prevent someone else's death. Maybe someone else's mother won't have to grieve the loss of her child.

That would be a hell of a tribute to Michael's life.