{"id":3107,"date":"2021-09-03T09:30:11","date_gmt":"2021-09-03T16:30:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.piercecountywa.gov\/executive\/?p=3107"},"modified":"2023-06-26T13:27:03","modified_gmt":"2023-06-26T20:27:03","slug":"the-power-of-a-name","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.piercecountywa.gov\/executive\/2021\/09\/03\/the-power-of-a-name\/","title":{"rendered":"The power of a name"},"content":{"rendered":"

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I was blessed to have a third granddaughter born last month.\u00a0 Her parents considered many potential names \u2013 and her sisters had their own favorites too.\u00a0 I was in the hospital room holding her for the first time when they made it official \u2013 Maggie Joy Dammeier.\u00a0 As I looked down at Maggie, I was struck by the miracle of her birth \u2013 and wondered about the life she had before her.<\/p>\n

That memory came rolling back, as I sat and heard the names of nearly 170 people read aloud as they were buried in a communal plot in Gig Harbor.\u00a0 I could not help but think about the miracle of each of their births and how their parents came up with their names.\u00a0 Hearing their names spoken aloud acknowledged each individual person and the dignity of their life.<\/p>\n

We gathered to say a final goodbye to people from our community who had no one else to lay them to rest. They were individuals who passed away in Pierce County but went unclaimed by family members or friends.<\/p>\n

Each person\u2019s name was read out loud, along with the date, cause, and location of their death by Kristen Smith, Jacob Atzet, and Hunter Kane – all members of the Medical Examiner Office\u2019s team. It was poignant and powerful.<\/p>\n

It was an honor to participate in the memorial ceremony. As I mentioned in my remarks, each of those laid to rest had once been a beloved member of a family. How their lives ended was not as important as the fact that they had lived in our community.<\/p>\n

You can see highlights from the ceremony in this video:<\/p>\n