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Pay Your Respects

I grew up in Ivoryton. I’m descended from Yankee ivory manufacturers and also from Swedish immigrants brought to Ivoryton to work in the factories.

I didn’t know the extent and methods of killing elephants by the industry until I was a middle-aged adult. I’m sad about what was done to the elephants, but it’s a sadness that can move into awareness and possibility.

For me, that possibility rests with the victims and not the perpetrators. To blame those most directly involved, to determine who did the most or created the greatest suffering will bury us in negative feelings of revenge and retaliation. To understand and open ourselves to the suffering and loss that the elephants endured will increase our concern for others.

That concern helps us put love for others above using them for our own advantage. The concern I feel for the elephants extends into concern for other animals, humans, the environment.

If we don’t name and remember the wrongs committed in the past, we give permission for them to continue or to be repeated. When we remember and seek to understand those tragedies, we learn what we shouldn’t do and how we can build a better world with what we should do.

This Saturday, Aug. 3, at 10 a.m., I’ll lay a wreath to remember and honor the elephants. It will be placed next to the History of Ivoryton board on the Ivoryton Green. There won’t be a ceremony, but feel free to stop by then or during the next few days to pay your respects.

Gary Comstock

Essex