There are so many timely topics at the forefront. Signs of global warming and climate change smack us in the face as soon as we open our front doors. Air conditioning systems are working overtime to keep us cool and comfortable while The Homeless Trust distributes water to those suffering on the streets.
Some watched with glee and others with concern when Gov. Ron DeSantis dismissed one-third of his presidential campaign staff while spinning about how that was a good thing.
Even sentient Republicans hung their heads in shame when Florida’s Department of Education approved new state history curriculum standards that said students must be taught “how slaves developed skills which, in some instances, could be applied for their personal benefit.”
Notice they didn’t alter standards to teach that Jews “developed skills” in concentration camps during WWII. Slavery and the Holocaust are equally abominable. Nothing good came from either of them. To teach otherwise is propaganda at best and an affront to human decency at worst.
But perhaps what caused the biggest hush over Miami-Dade County recently was the roadside suicide attempt by Miami-Dade Police Director Freddy Ramirez.
That tragedy was precipitated by an argument with his wife outside a Tampa, Fla., hotel, when he allegedly put a gun in his mouth and denied it to local police before the establishment asked the couple to leave. Mayor Daniella Levine Cava said in a subsequent news conference that Ramirez called her to confess what had happened at the hotel and expressed his intent to resign before the devastating turn of events on I-75.
As of this writing, we don’t know what that domestic dispute was about, but it doesn’t matter.
Whatever he thought was so horrible that he should pay for it with his life, was a terrible mistake. Ramirez had a break with reality and now he, his wife and their four children will never be the same.
Time may not heal all wounds, but it usually brings perspective. In time, Ramirez will hopefully be grateful for his survival. It is not trite to say that although his career may be over, his life remains too precious, too fleeting to throw away. It’s because so many of us share this value for human life that Ramirez’s suicide attempt was so sobering. For those who have lost a loved one to suicide, it brought back unspeakable pain.
In the name of all that is good and holy, we wish Freddy Ramirez peace in this life – and may we be unified in this belief.