A Few Thoughts On Kayla

I didn't know her, of course, but I knew a few like her. They are the ones everyone liked, the ones who would offer to help when you needed that so badly. The ones who would cheer you when you were down, who knew that you needed a hug just by the look on your face. The ones who wanted to hug everyone in the world, the ones who had no enemies, just friends. Yes, there are people like that. They are the ones we call "indomitable spirits", special people, and there are not enough of them.

They do not understand why others suffer, they do not understand why there are wars, or atrocities, or heartache. And they want to alleviate, in some way, the pain in those things.

But the world is full of woe and the Kaylas of the world cannot put an end to the suffering. I sometimes think they suffer for the rest of us, that they suffer from the fact that others suffer.

Instead of ending the suffering, she was murdered. IS claimed it was in a Jordanian attack. It is extremely unlikely that this was true, she probably had been dead for months. The IS is responsible for her death because they held her captive and had the responsibility to keep her safe.We will probably never know the real story of her death but it is likely we will learn the story of her life.

She has captured our hearts and our imaginations. And we will mourn her as if she were our own child.

But we cannot view the world as she did, we cannot forgive her killers. We shouldn't be able to, we should be vengeful, we should hate them, and we should want to kill them. Because this world needs Kaylas and it needs those who are outraged and angry at the scum who would kill those like her.