< the Carleton Community:
Around 3 pm last Friday, the universe in our corner of the world shifted into shock, disbelief, and grief. As a resident of the neighborhood adjacent to the College, and as an alum, I am writing to let you know that we, your neighbors, felt this shift as well. We are profoundly saddened by your loss, and the trauma of this experience.
While I personally never met these young men, I do know they are sons, friends, colleagues, teammates, and classmates. They were also neighbors who passed through our neighborhood and lived right next door. A conversation I overheard in Sayles the day before the accident, between two guys talking Stanford and Ultimate, and who might have been in that car, still haunts me. It reminds me yet again of how interconnected we all are, often in ways we don’t recognize, and how fragile life is.
Please know that we neighbors carry you in our hearts. We anticipate that some days the routine of daily life and work will feel like being on Mars, because it does not fit the unpredictable tremors of grief. That, too, will shift. In the meantime, when you find yourself south of campus and encounter a person you do not know, if you are up to it, please say “Hello” and see what happens. We just want you to know we’re with you.
Sincerely,
Jerri Hurlbutt ‘76, on behalf of the Northfield Eastside Neighborhood Association