I didn’t know Myrna Lemus Estrada, but I’ve learned a lot about her in the hours following Sunday morning at 8:30 AM when West Alameda Ave, the road I take to work, was blocked off due to a fatal pedestrian vs. auto accident.
I learned on Monday that the detour I had to take through the gas station to get to Eaton Street for church was caused by an intoxicated driver, who drove into a bus shelter where Estrada was sleeping, after having been “evicted” from the abandoned doorway she’d been living in for several years.
Though unhoused, Estrada had built a community for herself among the people who have been commuting up and down West Alameda for years. People looked out for her, and in her way, she also looked out for them. Several of our residents and the people who live and work around here had conversations with her.
Estrada struggled with mental illness, certainly not made any easier by the death of her son a few years ago. She liked to be outside, and enjoyed keeping to herself.
Across the street from Eaton Senior Communities, where once was a bus shelter with a bench where Estrada slept peacefully on Saturday night, into the early hours of Sunday morning, there is a shopping cart overflowing with flower arrangements, and surrounded with more flowers and prayer candles.
A vigil was held for her last night, and the community has rallied to raise funds to help her family with funeral expenses.
Perhaps in another post, I’ll share my thoughts on the complexities of mental illness, the lack of adequate resources to address issues that lead to experiences of not having a permanent home.
Today, I would like to remember Myrna Lemus Estrada, though I never got a chance to know her. The stories about her, and the tenderness with which they are told tell me all I need to know: the world is short a presence of light and care, and that is a tragedy.
May Myrna rest in peace, and may her memory, enshrined in love, be a blessing to all who knew and loved her. May she find rest and peace, a reprieve from the sorrow of losing her son. May she be at peaceful rest.