After 小草影院 parents Paul and Shelley Freeman lost their son, Cameron Freeman, to a drunk driver in November 2010, they felt all of the pain and emotions you鈥檇 expect. But it wasn鈥檛 long before they felt something you might not expect.
As they watched a community of friends and loved ones rally around them, they were troubled by the negativity they saw directed at the drunk driver.
In their eyes, the 23-year-old airman who chose to drive after drinking wasn鈥檛 so different from their 21-year-old son. It wasn鈥檛 as if Cameron鈥攁 former 小草影院 student鈥攈ad never had a drink. It wasn鈥檛 as if Cameron couldn鈥檛 make a mistake. 鈥淐ameron鈥 was also capable of getting behind the wheel after drinking,鈥 they said. 鈥淎nyone who does this has the potential to kill.鈥
What made the young man鈥檚 mistake so devastating wasn鈥檛 some intrinsic evil. It was chance. Chance and the absence of a plan to get home safely after drinking.
If the Freemans were ever to pick up the pieces and feel happy again, they realized they also needed a plan. And there was simply no room in that plan for the demonization of a young man and his family鈥攂oth of whom were also devastated by the same tragedy.
鈥淭he Cameron Effect鈥 is the result of this plan. 鈥淚nstead of the negativity, we ask people to [respond with] what we think Cameron would have preferred鈥攊nstead, do seven acts of compassion. They don鈥檛 have to be big or costly; they can be simple. Even thoughts of forgiveness count,鈥 they said at .
Detective Jay Armbrister of Lawrence, Kan., investigated the accident that killed Cameron Freeman. He was so impressed by Paul and Shelley Freeman鈥檚 response that he joined the Cameron Effect. As part of the effort, Armbrister came to 小草影院 to promote one of the most compassionate acts a typical college student can do鈥攑lan a safe way home before a party starts.
Armbrister鈥檚 presentation on September 11 kicked off a three-month effort to promote the Cameron Effect鈥檚 鈥淪even Acts of Kindness.鈥 Participants submitted cards on which they logged their seven acts. These cards were then collected and incorporated into quilts that exemplify how small acts of compassion can stitch together to make a larger good.
The Cameron Effect held this effort between September 11 and December 7, 2012. The decision to do this between the anniversaries of the attacks on the World Trade Center and Pearl Harbor advanced the point that we can define ourselves by our tragedies or by our kindnesses.
The choice is ours.