As we predicted earlier this year, this fall has shaped up to be an intellectually and emotionally overwhelming period for the island.

“Swamped” is the word we’ve found ourselves using again and again — swamped by a national election in which ballot boxes are just beginning to close as we put this week’s paper out.

Swamped by changes and developments in our island taxing districts and health care providers.

Swamped by the county’s unendingly complex comprehensive plan update, and the numerous offshoot news stories and letters to the editor that it continues to generate. We hope you’ll read this week’s long but important story by former Beachcomber editor Leslie Brown on a proposed housing development in Vashon Town.

Swamped — in a good way — by developments in our flourishing arts scene, including the fabulous creativity on display during Halloween this year despite the dismal rainy weather that heaped buckets on Vashon Highway that night.

Not to mention all the other news that continues to happen on our island.

By the end of this year, the comprehensive plan process will be in the rear view mirror. Hopefully, the results of our country’s election will be clear as well.

We hope the island’s collective energy toward both of those topics — as maddening and divisive as they have been for us — will continue in a spirit of positive collaboration.

Our collective work to make the island a better place is never done, even if the specifics are always changing.

But in moments like these, when the storm winds beat around us, we need to remember to stop. Take a deep breath. Center ourselves. And be here for each other.

This week’s paper includes news about the death of beloved singer Rebekah Kuzma, whose passing has affected islanders far and wide. We are among those grieving her death.

Vashon has many challenges to surmount, and one of the most painful is our mental health crisis. Suicide is not a rarity on this island. We have lost too many wonderful, warm, creative and kind people.

The lesson in these moments isn’t to blame ourselves for what could have been said or done. It is a reminder that we all have a responsibility to look out for ourselves and each other and seek out resources for help when we can — resources like those mentioned in our page 4 story, which can help people in crisis.

But mostly, we write this to express our love and our grief. One of the essential roles of a community newspaper is to help a community process strong emotions; to celebrate the joyous moments and to grieve our tragedies.

When someone we love dies, we feel shock, confusion, pain, and so many other difficult emotions.

There are no easy answers.

There is only the care we show one another and the legacy we leave on those whose lives we touched.

May Rebekah’s memory be a blessing — and may we all love each other.