On (the) Eve: A tribute to a stranger who made an impact

I had never met Eve, nor heard about her before she was killed. But some how when I heard about it, her death lingered in my mind for a long time after. For a week or two following the news, I remember seeking little stories about her life, trying to gain some understanding of who she had been and why this had happened. When the authorities discovered her death had occurred during a simple hijacking and robbery, I felt empty. I am not sure what I expected… but it seemed that a person who strove to give meaning to the world should have some more meaningful end.

Did I see in her what might have been a kindred spirit, or did I see something of myself there? This might offer some explanation for the way her death affected me, not knowing her personally. I wonder if the desensitization so many of us endure means we are less able to pay tribute to these souls in our memories. Ironic, and crushing, how as we gain greater and greater access to the stories of so many at our fingertips, we slowly lose the capacity to equally love each and every one as much as they deserve.

I never knew Eve Carson. I cannot say for sure what she would have wanted for those who lived on after she was gone. But I think the best way to honor the legacy of some one who tried to make an impact – some one whose potential and future impact was cut short due to a horrible act – is to vow to try our best to make up for the loss by coming together and working hard to do double or triple the good we could only imagine this person and others like her would do for others, had they lived. Acts of greed, acts of evil must be undone and outdone by acts of good.