Yesterday afternoon, in the hospital gift shop, I had bought a new scarf that had the color teal on it. This was to honor Youngest Daughter, Rachel Jane‘s request that we take note that the month of April was Sexual Assault Awareness Month (SAAM). Yesterday was specifically designated as #everybodyknowssomebody day. People were asked to wear something with the color teal to indicate that they cared/knew/supported victims. I had forgotten until I was out of the house yesterday morning. Besides, I didn’t think I had a single thing that was teal, either in accessories or apparel. So I decided to check at the Milford Hospital Gift Shop where I have made some friends, and where I often find unusual things. The only thing I found was a scarf with butterfiles that had teal accents. It was pretty, and it would do.
So last night I wore my usual black skirt, a simple white top and with the assistance of Deborah dressed it up with the pretty scarf. The evening was pleasant, We ate on the patio at The Palace, and the six of us (Christina, Jesse, Charis, Deborah, Daniel and I) enjoyed our time together immensely.
We got home, and I was getting ready to run into the hospital to see Cecilia. I was absentmindedly running the ends of my scarf through my fingers when I hit something crackly. Oh, dear! The price tag from the gift shop was dangling from the end of my scarf with one of those plastic string things that establishments use to keep garment price tags in place.
I hadn’t seen it! Deborah hadn’t seen it. I wonder who did!
Maybe as many who noticed the teal in the scarf and knew what it was for. And in “River Town. Art Town. Home Town. We are Milford,” that just might have been nobody. But they should have. In researching my home town, I was saddened to discover that, for all we have going for us, this is also (allegedly) true:
Crime
The city of Milford has a crime rate higher than the national average in some categories, much higher in rape, assault, and theft, and lower in others.
| Milford | Nation | |
|---|---|---|
| Murder | 0.0 | 6.9 |
| Forcible Rape | 97.22 | 32.2 |
| Robbery | 166.7 | 195.4 |
| Aggravated Assault | 1333.3 | 340.1 |
| Burglary | 1027.8 | 814.5 |
| Larceny Theft | 5500.0 | 2734.7 |
| Vehicle Theft | 291.7 | 526.5 |
Formula used for chart: ((Crimes Reported) / (Population)) X 100,000)[12]
Delaware Grammy 