David McElroy

And here, she’s acting happy
Inside her handsome home
— Harry Chapin, “Taxi”

I don’t know who the email came from. He or she claims I don’t know the sender, so I have no idea what the motivations were. But I’ve been thinking about it for days.

The message was short. It was about a woman who used to love me. Someone who I’ve loved very much — but someone who didn’t choose me when I wanted her to.

After a brief introduction, the writer got to the heart of the matter.

“You don’t know me, but I know all about you,” the message said. “She’s unhappy and depressed, maybe suicidal, though she hides it well. She acts happy and fakes it well most of the time, but I’ve seen through the cracks and she’s about to fall apart. She’s too proud to change anything, but I’m scared about what she might do. I don’t know why I’m telling you this, but I thought you should know.”

And I’m left to wonder why I should know.

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Robert Aaron Long murdered eight people in Atlanta Tuesday. That’s what police tell us.

Why did he do it? Some people say it was a hate crime since most of the victims were Asian. Others say this introverted 21-year old is just crazy. And there are other wildly different explanations.

Those who knew him in high school in Woodstock, Ga., just a few years ago are shocked. They say the boy they knew was caring and kind. He was an active member of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes and he talked about wanting to share God’s love with others.

“From what I can remember he was a really smart kid,” a former student told Fox News. “He was really quiet and kept to himself the majority of the time.”

I’m not inside Long’s mind, so I can’t say exactly why a caring teen became a cold-blooded murderer just a few years later. But I’d like to suggest that you or I could have done something similar. The civilization we see all around us — with our outward calm and polite behavior — is a thin veneer over something far more savage.

At least a touch of hidden insanity is born into each one of us. The interesting question isn’t why Long suddenly murdered eight people — but rather why more people don’t act more like him.

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It’s just a tree, but for six years, it’s been my favorite tree. Tonight, half of it has been cut down — and the rest will be gone tomorrow.

When I moved into this house six years ago, this majestic old tree quickly became my favorite part of living here. Each time I’ve stepped out of my front door, this tree has been there to greet me. That tree came to symbolize the beauty of nature’s changing seasons for me.

Each spring, I had the joy of watching new buds spring out of these giant branches. By summer, it would form a massive canopy over my front yard. In the autumn, its leaves would fill my yard with delightful gold and brown leaves that crunched underneath my feet. And in winter, it always stood in silent majesty — as a silent promise that life would soon be reborn.

And now, the beautiful tree which I had come to love so much is gone — and I find myself mourning its loss just as I’ve mourned the deaths of two human neighbors lately.

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