A very sad day in the Co-op world

[Mike Simpson]

A very sad day in the Co-op world

by The Big Tomato

Last month I blogged about the good our Co-op is doing in our local community, but today I'd like to point out that we are also part of a national and even global community, which is to say, the Co-op community. As diverse as we are, and distant as we may be from our food co-op neighbors throughout the US, co-ops everywhere are connected by our common principles and values. Today, food co-ops across the nation are joined together in mourning the loss of our colleague Michael Martin of Brattleboro Food Co-op (one of DFC's P6 sister stores) in Brattleboro, Vermont yesterday. 

The tragedy surrounding this loss is as heartbreaking and senseless as I can imagine. Michael was fatally shotat the Co-op and one of his coworkers has been charged with first-degree murder. It is a story that rattles everyone who hears it; I know this because as the details have been unfolding since the shooting was first reported, I have been following the developments and telling this story again, and again, to anyone who will listen, even though they didn't know Michael and had maybe even never heard of Brattleboro. Maybe I've been sharing the story because it's a way to relieve some of the burden of the grief; maybe with hopes that it will start to make sense. Can it ever make sense? 

I met Michael five months ago at a P6 meeting in Lawrence, Kansas. We talked over drinks at the hotel bar at the end of the first day of meetings. I sat next to him at our group dinner at Free State Brewery. I have a hard time reconciling those memories with the news of his tragic death. It is a very sad story, indeed. 

An outpouring of love and support from the national Co-op community has been directed Brattleboro's way, along with prayers and wishes for peace and healing in the face of such immeasurable grief. Comments on postings on BFC's facebook page have been coming in since the news first dropped, and one BFC member's lovely blog posttalks about how the only saving grace of this trauma in what we thought was our safely insular co-op world is that we have the mutual support of our co-op network to share our grief with. 

On behalf of the Davis Food Co-op, we want to extend our condolences, love, and wishes for healing and hope, from our Co-op to Brattleboro's. We cannot be there for the peace vigil in Brattleboro tonight, but our thoughts are with their entire community. Thank you for taking this time to read this.