Today photographer Rod Stevens and I covered the memorial for Luke Glenn, the Tigard teen who was killed by Washington County sheriff's deputies. Luke was distraught and drunk as he held a pocket knife to his throat and theatened his life and his family's.
Luke had just graduated from Tigard High School last May where he was a kicker on the football team. When you cover stories, it's hard to know the person who isn't there for you to meet. You have to rely on friends and family to paint a picture. I had an idea of who Luke was, but it wasn't until today's memorial that the view became clearer. Friends showed a copy of a high school movie Luke made. In it, this tall, blonde good-looking kid pleaded with a friend for his bag of "Dorito's."
He seemed to have his whole life ahead of him. He seemed like a good kid. Among the speakers, Luke's former soccer team-mate who read Luke's Mom a poem. Luke's Mom is a soccer coach. Part of it read, "Whether or not you know it, Hope it's already done. I want to tell you, Luke's not your only son. You've helped me grow and helped raise me into a man. You've been a second mother to me since classic soccer began." At the end of the poem, the soccer players in the front row stood up and applauded Hope. This was especially moving because I know from interviewing Hope how much she regrets calling 911 when Luke was out of control.
There wasn't a dry eye in the auditorium at that moment. It was a sad ending to a painful goodbye for some 700 people.

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