"Daddy Changed the World."

This tiny girl is Gianna, who is just 6 years old. Her father is and was George Floyd who recently died at the hands of a rogue police officer. I can't imagine the devastation this family feels. How will any of them ever trust again? Will little Gianna grow up a troubled and broken youth, and in time, a damaged adult? Or will this tragic experience create communication, action and as she declared "change?" 

I work in the bereavement field and see the impact that grief has on children and teens. Many even younger than Gianna, with varied ways that their loved one died. All are traumatic in their own right and the ages of these kids sometimes dictates how they will manage grief for their rest of their lives. We work hard to help them learn, grow and heal. So many do not actively seek our services (all offered at no charge) for a variety of reasons and those are the kids I worry about when I can't sleep at night. But I believe Gianna will be different. The country and her own community will have her back. And her statement already shows that she can see the tiny slice of good that has come out of the loss of her father. My hope for her is that her family and her friends will be able to manage the complex feelings and experiences she will have as she grows. For now, she is still so very small and all of this is so very big. But for Gianna, sitting high on the shoulders of a family friend, with a smile that lit up her face, her words that her "Daddy changed the World" have had great impact on a very precarious situation. The World lost a man making change in his own life, a father and a community member. Through this tragedy and the days that have followed, we have gained a new spirit of unrest, a growing energy and a protest that what was cannot continue to be what is. From this tragic act, new hope has emerged for a common ground, heartfelt forgiveness and a peaceful communal existence.

Yes, Gianna, your daddy HAS changed the World.

Namaste.

~ Chy