This is how a community grieves

Happy Monday, Citrus County. Let’s start the week talking a little about our community.

I am drawn to the community. Clusters of people, whether they be in the dozens or hundreds, for the common good. In community, we laugh together, argue together, succeed together, and we thrive together.

And grieve together.

Odd as it is, nowhere is community more evident than at the funeral of a beloved citizen. And that’s what we had Sunday afternoon at Seven Rivers Church, packed with citizens and law enforcement officers to pay their final respects to Cpl. Andy Lahera.

(Corporal? Yeah, I’ll get to that in a minute.)

The community galvanized around Andy’s wife, Michelle, and their sons, Nicholas and Vincent, in the two-plus years since Andy’s horrific accident at the Lecanto High School graduation. The family leaned in as well, with Michelle sharing Andy’s progress with nearly daily Facebook updates.

So, when Andy died on Sept. 11, the entire community felt this loss. Not like the Lahera family, but like a tight community of friends. We have had losses like this before. It is deep and lasting.

Sheriff Dave Vincent, his voice cracking as he spoke from the pulpit in the hushed sanctuary, summed it up: “The grief in this room is profound.”

Andy Lahera touched a lot of Citrus County souls as a father and husband, sheriff’s officer, school resource deputy, and follower of Jesus. That was quite evident Sunday. It’s clear Nicholas and Vincent carry his legacy in their hearts. Watch out for these two. They’re now motivated by a spirit that can’t be stopped by mere challenges.

The law enforcement presence was rather extraordinary. Officers from the region and beyond were on hand to bury a fallen friend. Talk about community. I felt such awe in the presence of these uniformed men and women.

Michelle’s love for Andy is both heartbreaking and hopeful. But she also used the pulpit to remind people that something rather good came from all this — the Deputy Andy Lahera Act, passed unanimously by the Legislature.

Sheriff Vincent, who posthumously promoted Andy to Corporal, is the embodiment of our community. He represents our intentions quite well. When the sheriff has trouble getting through the eulogy, he’s carrying the loss we all feel.

My experience with community grief is we channel it into deeper caring. The community spirit that Andy carried in all walks of his life will continue to thrive through his family, friends, sheriff’s deputies, and people who never heard his name before the last two years, or even before the last two weeks.

Andy had that effect on people. His wife and sons have that effect. Now our sheriff has that effect. He got it from friends like Andy and Michelle.

See how this works? We grow in fellowship, even in our grief. 

Thank you, Cpl. Lahera, for showing us the way.

Have a great Monday, friends.

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