From a story in the February 5, 2006 Washington Post,
sent to us by a friend.

Michelle Richardson-Patterson and Pearl Boykin might never have met, might never have become friends.  The circumstances that brought them together might suggest that the likelihood of a friendship between them was slim.  But their story is one of making good news out of sad news.

In a shooting at Ballou Senior High School in Southeast Washington, DC, on February 2, 2004, Pearl Boykin’s son, Thomas, killed Michelle Richardson-Patterson’s son, James.

In September of 2005, The Washington Post published a story about the friendship that had formed between the two women.  Since then, they have formed a nonprofit organization, Forgiving Mothers Straight From the Heart, to minister to perpetrators of gun violence and the families of victims.  They also train the people they work with to help others in their situation.

Speaking about their new organization, Richardson-Patterson said, “We want to bring together mothers, grandmothers and friends of victims and survivors, educating them on how to work through their pain and hurt and restore their hopes and aspirations.”

Through their own healing process and through their outreach to others, the two women have discovered an affectionate friendship that continues to surprise them.  “We talk, we pray, we laugh, we cry.  That’s what Michelle and I do,” Boykin said.  “Michelle is my other half.”

Michelle has befriended her son’s killer as well.  She visits him in prison and writes him regularly.  “I call him my baby.  I write him inspirational letters letting him know he’s not in it by himself.  If Jesus forgives me for all the stuff I’ve done, I can do likewise.”

 

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