If you’ve read the news or been on social media the past few days you’ve probably heard of Athena. If not, she was a 7 year old little girl kidnapped from her driveway by a UPS worker and killed less than an hour later, leaving a little sister who adores her behind and leaving a family with an empty bedroom this Christmas.

I’ve laid awake watching Savannah sleeping thinking about this. I was doing the dishes today with non stop thoughts of how? Why? Could it have been avoided? And as I write this I watch a child walk down my street to go home to his family. Just as Athena was trying to that day.

I knew I had to sit down to try to process this out through writing because,well, I can’t. I can’t process this, I can’t fathom hurting the innocent, I can’t bear the thought of a mother going to sleep without her baby and I can’t understand. Truthfully, I think we’re not meant to comprehend or understand it at all.

I approach another thought of what is there to do now? Is there a way to change or stop these things from happening? Is there a way to protect our children? I’m not naive to the fact this could have been Savannah, this could have been my neighbors children, this could have been anyone at any time in any place. The killer explains that it was a crime of opportunity, in that it wasn’t planned, there was no reasoning to it. He saw the opportunity to take Athena’s life and he did. 

The world can be dark and sometimes there is no reason. Anger and hate can grow like a poison inside someone until they snap. So it finally hits me that nothing could have been done, but there is something we can all do now.

Be kind and love in every given opportunity. Simply put but overwhelmingly underrated, I believe so much darkness in the world could have been put out had someone been shown that there is light. There is so much hate in our society as a whole right now. There are political differences, there is discrimination, there is jealousy, there is malice.

But there is also love, there is the person who pays for the person behind them in line because they wanted to make someone’s day. There is a person who holds the door open for the mother struggling behind them carrying their child. There is a person buying toys so someone less fortunate this season can have something to open on Christmas.

We are all human walking our own paths and experiences everyday. The small acts of kindness and love do matter. You can be the light in someone else’s life today. Athena’s mom explains her as the “brightest, happiest soul you could ever meet” For Athena I hope we can all choose to spread light and love this holiday season and everyday. RIP, sweet angel.

Athena’s gofundme