Transcending Grief

On this lovely day that celebrates the promise of life after death, I want to share a conversation I had with Judge Esther Salas. You’ll remember that Judge Salas and her family were targeted by a deranged defendant, who rang her doorbell in a disguise, seeking vengeance. Judge Salas’s only child Daniel was murdered in the attack. Her husband was grievously injured.

I first met and interviewed Esther Salas shortly after that attack. She was still raw with grief and terrified about her husband Mark’s tenuous hold on life. But on the morning I interviewed her at CNN, she got word from his doctors that Mark had turned a corner and would survive. She remembers that day and credits that call with allowing her to start the journey of repair and healing.

As you’ll hear in this interview, Esther Salas has (miraculously) let go of anger towards her son’s killer. She’s amazing in her ability to reclaim joy and harness her life force to move forward. (I’m grateful for the tips she shared with me here. We talk about music too, which can be so hard to hear when you’re grieving, but how for her, it’s become celebratory again).

But even with her healing, she’ll never stop speaking out about the grossly irresponsible and dangerous rhetoric coming from our “leaders.” Other judges’ lives have been destroyed as a result of the amped up rhetoric. As you’ll hear, judges are under more threat today than ever before. Salas also explains a disgusting doxxing hoax currently going around the country, invoking the name of her murdered son, Daniel.

https://www.scrippsnews.com/shows/connected-with-alisyn-camerota/connected-with-alisyn-camerota-when-violence-came-to-judge-esther-salas-door

I’m so grateful that my job allows me to be in the company of people like Esther Salas and that I get to soak up some of her wisdom and spirit. Because of conversations like this,

I too feel like I’m turning a corner in my own grief.

I wish you all a peaceful Easter. May it be filled with rebirth, renewal and hope.