A sad symbol, misused?

In case you were wondering why the American flag is at half staff today (and will be "until further notice"): it's not for a Massachusetts soldier who died defending their country or the passing of an ex-President; it's for Middlesex county Sheriff James V. DiPaola who died November 26...by his own hand.

According to the 'Mash' theme song, "Suicide is painless." And for the perpetrator it probably is--especially in this case--with a gunshot to the head. But for the loved ones left behind it is a wound that never heals.

DiPaola was in the media spotlight even before he ended his life as investigative journalists in Boston exposed his scheme to collect both a $98, 500 pension and $123,000 sheriff's salary. Attorney General Martha Coakley was also investigating alleged campaign finance irregularities.

And now Governor Patrick, a fellow Democrat, has ordered all state flags to a position of mourning as a final tribute. I guess if the American flag represents anything, it is indeed freedom.

Although, the freedom to kill yourself is not high on my list.

Routine returns?

Former blogger and forever friend Izzy Lyman once warned me about installing a sitemeter because you become "obsessive" about visitors.

Over the last few days I could not help but notice many of them coming from the Chicago area via a Goggle search for "Jenny Kim," sometimes adding "Amherst College" oftentimes THAT term...the one that makes the word death redundant.

I had noted Amherst College was flying their vibrant, well-lit American flag at the top of Johnson Chapel overlooking downtown Amherst in a position of mourning to remember and honor Jenny Kim, a 22-year senior with a prosperous life awaiting suddenly, stunningly, by her own dominant hand, gone.

Growing up in Amherst I can remember when Umass Southwest High-rise dorms were once rolling open fields. And it wasn't long after they first scraped the sky before a troubled youth used the top floor of one or the other as a platform for certain death.

After a half-dozen fatalities Umass, finally, instituted security measures and the regrettable ritual stopped--or at least took on a different form.

I feel bad for Jenny; I feel bad for her friends and family; and I feel bad for invoking her name over this medium where anyone can instantly arrive from anywhere in the world after typing her name.

Hopefully flying the American flag at half-staff high over Amherst College brought them some comfort; if indeed, anything can bring comfort to those she left behind.

On THAT awful day, as dusk descended over a forever-changed New York City, three tired firefighters desperately looking for fallen comrades break to hoist a borrowed American flag over the debris. The photo captured and inspired our national resolve and I, for one, took some comfort there.

So for those of you who arrive here now looking for information about Jenny Kim, I'm sorry; I did not know her in her life, and I'm saddened that I only became aware of her in death.

http://www.amherst.edu/memoriam/kim.html