We are approaching the end of the year and with it, we reach the most cheerful season. Although it seems that everyone has good intentions in the heart and the best of us comes out during the month of December, we cannot help but recognize that this has not been one that will be easy to forget.
Nor can we forget those who are no longer among us. To those who did so much to improve our quality of life and specifically in the training of our children.
This year, the first to leave us was Frank Benjamin (09/10/1934 – 03/02/2018), better known as Mr. B, name given to him by the children he loved so much and guided towards a good path.
We met Mr. B several years ago, when he was the director of the Lawrence Police Athletic League and each night he alternated between Arlington School and South Lawrence East, where he guarded hundreds of children and young people while they practiced basketball and other activities under strict discipline, so necessary today.
We opened the pages of Rumbo to his stories, which he began to write on May 15, 2005. In total, we published 306 of them, all based on what had happened in Lawrence during his youth years and that he still had in his memory.
On March 31, 2016, his friends paid tribute to him, where he launched a compendium of his memoirs and, in a gesture typical of him, dedicated the total proceeds of the sale to benefit Canal Street Gym, directed by Daisy Martínez along with her husband José “Bugzy” Martínez.
Destiny wanted that in this same edition, we bring the fantastic story of Bugzy Martínez on canvas. Take the time to read it on page 11. “How proud he would be of me, I feel he is here with us,” Bugzy told us deeply moved.
Another huge loss for Lawrence was the unexpected departure of Patricia Karl. (03/25/43 – 11/28/2018.) Mrs. Karl founded Lawrence Family Development Charter School, which opened in 1995, being one of the first and best charter schools in the state.
Mrs. Karl also founded YouthBuild-Lawrence, an education and job training program to build homes for low-income families while helping to change the lives of young adults, as well as the Maria del Pilar Quintana Center, which offers ESL and Citizenship classes for immigrants.
And how can we leave out the tragedy that lately affected not only Lawrence, but the neighboring towns of Andover and North Andover?
We refer to the gas explosions and fires that occurred on September 13, 2018, of which much has been written, many of us have suffered the consequences, but only the most directly affected, those who lost their property and most especially those who lost a loved one, for them, there is no reward that can alleviate their pain.
In these days when we are celebrating Christmas, Hanukah and Kwanzaa, we pray to the Creator for bringing peace and hope to men and women of good will on the face of the earth.
