A Tribute to Deputy Anne Jackson

"Sept. 3 (Bloomberg) -- Six people, including a sheriff's deputy, were killed in Washington state when a man suffering from a mental illness went on a shooting spree, before surrendering to police following a car chase, the Associated Press reported."

You may be asking yourself "Why is he posting about this? News isn't his thing." You're right, news is not my thing, at least not on this blog, but this is not news for me; this hit me a little closer. A friend of mine is involved with the Skagit County Sheriff's Department, and she knew the deputy who was killed. The deputy's name is Anne Jackson, she was 40 years old and had served in the department for 6 years.

The reason I'm typing this is because of my own inability to do anything to make the situation better. When someone dies there's little one can do, especially when you're thousands of miles away. At that distance, all you have is words, but what words can do anything? I can't say "It'll be alright" cause it isn't and someone is in the ground. All I can say is "I agree, it sucks" and hopefully my friend will find comfort in the empathy. There's no reason to sugarcoat it, there's nothing that can be gained from that; this sucks.

I've heard it said that a million people dying is not a tragedy, but one person dying is. The potential of a million people could never be calculated, the loss could never be understood, but the loss of one person could. What could have deputy Anne Jackson been; what could she have done. I don't know but I know someone who knew her, and that person will see the impact of her loss often.

Such a rash action, and in a instant, such a waste. She was a just doing her job, and now she's gone for good.

If you just read this, keep Deputy Jackson's friends and family and the entire Skagit county law enforcement community on your thoughts and prayers.

Thanks