Creating good from tragedy is better when you didn't cause the tragedy

Two stories recently told uplifting stories of people who faced tragedy and worked to bring some good out of it.

However, the two people at the center of those stories started at very different places on both the earthly and the celestial balance sheets.

Rachel Budko, of Columbia, survived the attack of her enraged step-father when her mother tried to escape domestic abuse. Her mother, Peggy Fleming, was killed outright, but her grandmother suffered for six days before dying from the gunshot wounds.

Budko ran and survived, but that brought guilt in addition to the pain of losing the women she loved. Support of family and friends, counseling and her faith got her through.

Now she runs a charity named for her mom, PEG Can Help, that raises money for domestic violence victims.

The other story was about former judge and former heroin addict Michael Cook. Cook lived a life of privilege that he squandered, contributed to the death of new judge Joe Christ and corrupted St. Clair County's drug court.

He fostered a lot of shame that only ended because he was caught by law enforcement.

Now that Cook can't be a lawyer anymore, he's decided to spend his life counseling other addicts. Good for him, and we wish him success.

But no one should forget the mess he created. He should work to repair what he can, but his debt can never truly be repaid because he can never replace the Christ children's father or undo the stain on the local courts.

It's nobler to rise from tragedy when you weren't the one who precipitated it.

This story was originally published May 29, 2018 at 3:45 PM with the headline "Creating good from tragedy is better when you didn't cause the tragedy."