06/12/2026
Sunday the 14th will be one year since the tragic murder of our dear Melissa and Mark Hortman. From their children, Sophie and Colin Hortman, Visit a park, plant a tree. Pet a dog — especially a golden. Bake a cake. Tell a cheesy dad joke. Learn something new.
And one more, perhaps the most important:
Stand up for what you believe in.
That one wasn't an afterthought.
Sophie and Colin Hortman meant it.
About a year ago, Minnesota lost Melissa and Mark Hortman.
Things we remember.
The Speaker who planted more trees than any legislator in state history. The husband who baked bread. The golden retriever named Gilbert. The family who, in the middle of unimaginable grief, gave Minnesota seven simple ways to honor their parents.
Visit a park. Plant a tree. Pet a dog — especially a golden. Bake a cake. Tell a cheesy dad joke. Learn something new.
And one more:
Stand up for what you believe in.
That one wasn't an afterthought.
Sophie and Colin Hortman meant it.
For many of us in this network, this loss was personal.
We worked with Melissa. Sat across from her. Watched her take impossible numbers at the Capitol — a one-vote majority, sometimes no majority at all — and still find a way forward.
House DFL Leader Zach Stephenson said this week that when he faces something new in that role, he still thinks about what advice Melissa would have given him.
The conversation doesn't feel over.
That's what happens when someone leaves behind more than a record.
They leave a way of doing the work.
This Saturday evening, Yvette Hoffman — who survived the attack that took Melissa and Mark, and who continues healing alongside her husband Sen. John Hoffman — is asking Minnesotans to do something simple.
Put a candle on your doorstep at dusk. 🕯️
Light it for Melissa. For Mark. For Gilbert. For Sophie and Colin. For a family that answered cruelty with kindness, and grief with service.
The Hoffmans reminded us this week that there is no true justice when a family — and a state — never fully heals.
And then they asked us to choose the harder path:
Stop dehumanizing each other. Treat people with respect. Refuse to answer hate with more hate.
Choosing that is harder than it sounds right now. It's also how a community survives.
And this Sunday, Minnesota will carry both grief and hope.
Across the state, people will gather for No Kings Day — not because we have forgotten what happened, but because we remember what Melissa believed.
Democracy is not something we inherit and put on a shelf.
It is something we tend.
It is trees planted for people we may never meet.
It is showing up.
It is doing the work.
The legislature renamed Minnesota's community solar program after Melissa. St. Paul proclaimed June 14 Mark, Melissa, and Gilbert Hortman Day. This week, Senators Klobuchar and Smith stood on the Senate floor to say her name.
And somewhere this weekend, we hope there are dogs getting extra pets, cakes being baked, terrible dad jokes being told, and maybe a margarita or two being raised.
Melissa would have liked that. 🌮
Sophie and Colin told us how to honor their parents:
"Stand up for what you believe in, especially justice and peace."
So we will.
Put a candle on your doorstep at dusk. 🕯️
And if you are able, join your neighbors.
