Today would’ve been my brother-in-law’s 73rd birthday and I’ve been thinking about and missing him an awful lot. As his sister said to me in our text exchange earlier, “He was the easiest person.” It’s true. As I wrote here, Bob was always my refuge. He accepted me for who and what I was, no judgments attached.  I wasn’t special, though, because Bob was easy with everyone. That’s not to say he was a pushover. Bob fought hard his entire life for the most vulnerable among us. The thing about being in the struggle is that we win some and also lose battles along the way.

I know this and yet earlier today felt myself descending to a dark place. I’ve been collaborating with folks in my community to advocate for the unhoused who are being threatened with new policies that would further criminalize them for the “crime” of having to sleep outside, and today received a response to emails I’d sent city council this week. This particular member outlined policy proposals they plan to introduce at the next council meeting and those policies contained zero glimmers of our shared humanity, and instead focused on proposals to protect property and “public safety.”

I felt so deflated. And when soon after that I learned our local Planned Parenthood was shutting down next week, I wanted to curl up in a ball and pretend none of this stuff was happening.

Then Bob popped into my head (again). Bob didn’t give up. As was highlighted over and over at his memorial, Bob never turned cynical or stopped hoping and believing in a better world.

Today I am honoring Bob by refusing to give up on the struggle for a better world. Happy Birthday, brother. (P.S. Bob, please forgive me for posting this photo your sister shared with me today as I couldn’t resist documenting your goofiness!)