I think about the etymology sometimes. Hope comes from Old English hopian , meaning “to have confidence.” But confidence in what? Not in safety—Highland Park learned that safety is an illusion. Confidence in welcome. The belief that even if the world breaks your window, someone will leave their door unlatched.
Highland Park, before that summer, was a town of pretty fences. Afterward, it became a town of open doors. The synagogue on Ridge Road kept its sanctuary doors unlocked until midnight, just in case someone needed to sit in the dark and cry. The library turned its back patio into a “quiet listening space”—no card required. The old firehouse, which had been closed for years, reopened its bay doors for free grief counseling. hope’s doors highland park
The Doors That Didn’t Lock