viewpoints » S end letters to: letters@thejewishnews.com Rated #1 In Best Purchase Experience in the Midwest 2013 and 2014 commentary Jeff Stewart Assistant New Car Sales Manager Serving the Community Since 1969 248-636-2736 CONGRATULATIONS GLASSMAN SUBARU A division of Glassman Automotive Group Serving Our Community For Over 45 Years! 5FMFHSBQI3Et4PVUIýFMEt t 2109590 8&&,4-&'5 5",&%0'' ûëú÷ôôû óíüýêéðûüíîñôñö íĀëôýìíìîú÷õûéôí 4"-&&/%4 r(ñîüû r,ñììýûð$ýøû r.íö÷úéðû r5éôôñü÷ü r+ýìéñëé"úü r,íüýê÷ü Tradition! Tradition! Celebrating 26 Years!! 1236730 Alicia R. Nelson (248) 557-0109 www.traditiontradition.com 2100990 DESIGNS IN DECORATOR WOOD & LAMINATES, LTD. It Doesn't Have To Cost A Fortune… Only Look Like It! Complete kitchen and bathroom remodeling as well as furniture design and installations including granite, wood and other materials. Lois Haron Allied Member ASID 248.851.6989 8 July 21 • 2016 Let’s End Gun Violence F or seven years, I worked at Boston’s Brigham and Women’s Hospital, where I met and married my husband, Dr. Damanpreet Bedi. I was a dietician specializing in advanced nutrition support, caring for patients in intensive care or those who required feeding tubes or IV nutrition. I worked in the inpa- tient cancer center and the cardiac ward with patients who had cardiac surgery or transplants. Nicole Bedi My former col- league, Dr. Michael Davidson, was a brilliant Jewish car- diac surgeon known for his incredible bedside manner and for treating the sickest of patients. He might be alive today if he had reasonably refused to see the man who showed up in his office on Jan. 20, 2015. But that wasn’t in his nature, so Michael delayed his appointments and met with Stephen Pasceri, the disgruntled son of a for- mer patient who had died at another hospital. Michael spent more than 30 minutes trying to console Marguerite Pasceri’s grieving son, despite the fact that Marguerite Pasceri had long since been released from his care and her death wasn’t a result of the surgery he performed. Her son murdered her doctor and killed himself. As the wife of a doctor and as a mother, I was filled with an inexorable sense of grief and fear when I heard of Michael’s murder. Every day that my husband goes to work at Royal Oak Beaumont, I am haunted by nightmar- ish thoughts. I began to The late Dr. Michael realize that Davidson with the cur- rent state of firearms culture and legislation, there is nothing that might prevent this tragedy from happening again, possibly even to my own family. The gun violence that assaults us every day — from Orlando to Dallas — leaves a shadow over our daily lives. There seems to be no end; incidences of gun violence play out in the national news even as I write this. Michael’s death profoundly changed my outlook on life: It was the last straw. I felt compelled to get involved in gun violence prevention and joined Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America. As I got more involved in gun vio- lence prevention, I realized that I had a responsibility to do more for my family, for Michigan. I decided to run for state representative. As a mother, a former hospital employee and the wife of a doctor, I don’t think legislation allowing individ- uals to carry loaded guns in hospitals, churches and schools is keeping our communities safe. I have an obligation to my family and my community to become part of the solution, and I will not shirk it. In light of the many, many tragedies that we have all seen play out in the news, I am acutely aware that every day is a gift, and I plan to use mine to make our lives healthier and safer. * Nicole Bedi is a wife, mother, registered dietitian and #GunSense activist who lives in Birmingham.