We lost Matt Garcia this week. Sadness strikes as we each attempt to understand the tragic loss of one so vibrant, so full of energy, ideas and limitless potential. The taking of Councilman Matt Garcia’s life impacts us all: young, old, White, Black, Asian and Hispanic.
At 22 Matt had already achieved political success as a leader and role model. And, he achieved the great admiration of our community. As we know he also became the youngest councilman to be elected in California’s history and the youngest Latino councilman to be elected in the US. Although aware of his “firsts” Matt I believe valued making the world better than he found it more than any accolade.
As we mourn a life taken at its absolute best and purest state let’s also think of a time down the road when we will celebrate what Matt gave each of us: a promise of hope and limitless potential. He showed us we need to focus on the important things to sustain our community like crime prevention, better education for our youth, a better infrastructure to keep our youth safe and on the right path.
Pray for Matt, for his parents, for his family, and for our community. Pray that we find a path to wisdom and follow Matt’s footsteps in making our community better than we found it.
Una Semana Triste en Fairfield
Perdimos a Matt García esta semana. La tristeza nos envuelve mientras tratamos de comprender la pérdida trágica de una persona tan vibrante, tan llena de energía, de ideas y de un potencial sin límites.
La muerte del Concejal Matt García nos impacta a todos, jóvenes, ancianos, blancos, negros, asiáticos e hispanos. A los 22 años Matt ya había alcanzado éxito en la política y tenía la gran admiración de nuestra comunidad. Como sabemos, llegó a ser el concejal más joven elegido en la historia de California y el concejal latino más joven en los Estados Unidos. Aunque sabía de sus logros, Matt, yo creo, daba más valor a hacer el mundo mejor que lo que él había encontrado.
Mientras lamentamos una vida tomada en su mejor y su más puro estado, pensamos también en el futuro cuando celebremos lo que Matt nos dio a cada uno de nosotros, una esperanza, un potencial sin límites. Nos mostró que necesitamos enfocarnos en las cosas importantes para sostener a nuestra comunidad como prevención contra el crimen, una mejor educación para nuestra juventud, una infraestructura mejor para mantener a nuestra juventud a salvo y en el camino recto.
Oren por Matt, por sus padres, por su familia y por nuestra comunidad. Oren para que encontremos el camino y la sabiduría y sigamos las huellas de Matt haciendo a nuestra comunidad mejor de lo que la encontramos.
This is truly a great blog!! I will never understand why such a great person had to be taken or the motives of the indiviual who took his life.
I do however believe in Matt's vision and hope we can all follow his footsteps. Together we can make Fairfield a better place to live and raise our children!
I myself have moved away from Fairfield because of the violence, now I think that I, like many others turned my back on what was wrong and needed to be fixed instead of trying to help make it better.
I'm proud of Matt and his influence on not just myself but all of us, our elders, our generation and the ones who will follow.
I will sign the pledge banner that will be presented to his family and I will also commit to celebrating his life by trying to make Fairfield a great place to live!
Long live Matt Garcia's legecy and mission!!
We love you always Matt!!
Posted by: Graciela Q | September 03, 2008 at 04:10 PM