Jamie’s Voice
March 6, 2015 - by
There will be more pain, more tears, more heartbreak as the trial goes on. But Jamie Kirk Hahn’s voice in the courtroom reminded us what was lost that awful April evening two years ago.
A witness who had talked to her by phone about a campaign billing problem described her as “genuine and honest.” You heard her characteristic cheerfulness and capableness.
A memory surfaced. Just months earlier, Jamie had been recruited to organize a nonprofit group’s bus tour across the state. The first morning, the bus had a flat tire in Winston-Salem. Jamie arranged alternate transportation for everyone, drove by herself to Boone, checked the setup for the next event, greeted everyone with a smile, then left to set up the next event in Hickory. She did everything but change the tire.
The media cliché is that she was a “rising star.” No. She was a star. Many a company, campaign or charity would love to have her skills and her smile today.
Because we are civilized people, we do not wreak revenge. We seek justice through a system in which 12 selfless citizens sit patiently, hear arguments, consider evidence, deliberate and decide. To the courtroom novice, there is a genius, dignity and even majesty to the system.
But this day there was just pain, tears and heartbreak.
Jamie’s Voice
March 6, 2015/
There will be more pain, more tears, more heartbreak as the trial goes on. But Jamie Kirk Hahn’s voice in the courtroom reminded us what was lost that awful April evening two years ago.
A witness who had talked to her by phone about a campaign billing problem described her as “genuine and honest.” You heard her characteristic cheerfulness and capableness.
A memory surfaced. Just months earlier, Jamie had been recruited to organize a nonprofit group’s bus tour across the state. The first morning, the bus had a flat tire in Winston-Salem. Jamie arranged alternate transportation for everyone, drove by herself to Boone, checked the setup for the next event, greeted everyone with a smile, then left to set up the next event in Hickory. She did everything but change the tire.
The media cliché is that she was a “rising star.” No. She was a star. Many a company, campaign or charity would love to have her skills and her smile today.
Because we are civilized people, we do not wreak revenge. We seek justice through a system in which 12 selfless citizens sit patiently, hear arguments, consider evidence, deliberate and decide. To the courtroom novice, there is a genius, dignity and even majesty to the system.
But this day there was just pain, tears and heartbreak.