One of my readers (one of the most awesome of my readers) sent me this link about Brendan Burke.
According to news reports, a black Jeep heading east slid sideways into oncoming traffic and collided with a westbound pickup truck Friday afternoon. The driver of the truck escaped without injury, but Burke and 18-year-old Mark Reedy, both of whom were in the Jeep, were killed; in the blink of a teary eye, two young lives came to a heartbreaking end.
I blogged about Brendan and his father Brian. It was a big deal story as Brian is considered one of the toughest men in pro hockey, and Brendan was headed for a career in pro sports.
At the time, the story was mostly about two things: how a father accepted and loved his son unconditionally, and this coming out happening in the realm of pro sports. But it was easy then to see this– and every story– as being about the big picture: gay rights, equality, and justice. But underneath those “big frame” concepts, was a story of a real boy and a real father, and a real relationship between them. For Brendan now, it won’t matter if gays can marry. But it mattered to Brendan every day of his life, that his father loved him.
Any of us who work and advocate for full equality do so, not to win some big conceptual battle, but because real people live real lives, and have real relationships that matter. Because life is unpredictable, and each of us want to make the most of the days we have. It isn’t good enough to know that at some point in the future gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgenders will have full equality. What is “good enough” is to make sure that each and every day we each are doing something to bring that reality into being, now. Brendan’s coming out was one such action. Activism and advocacy are for and  about real people, real lives and real relationships. Activism and advocacy are about changing the world in which we live here and now, so that there is less fear, bigotry, rejection, isolation, and danger.
My thoughts and prayers go out to Brendan’s family, friends and loved ones.
A touching post. Thanks Tom.