Recent Shootings
Lessons in Loss, Love and Resilience
It blows my mind that there is minimal intention to create change in what is happening in our country. The most recent shooting at the FSU campus in Tallahassee is another example. The sad irony, a dear friend Jeff who lost his daughter Maura only days before Alaina’s murder was set to have an event on the FSU campus in one of the buildings that shut down during the most recent shooting.
Wait…YES. Maura was killed in a Yoga studio in early November 2018 in Tallahassee. Her father Jeff and I met at the Rock the Ride Napa Valley 2019 and he comes out annually.
When I reached out to him of what happened he confirmed and said, “Yeah it seems unreal, but logically we know it’s anytime anywhere.” Jeff continued, “I was at the hotel working on my notes for the symposium and started hearing a lot of sirens and lights heading in the direction of the university. Then I knew.”
Seems surreal, until you live this, yet many of the politicians in our country don’t want to have the real conversations of how easily people are dying in larger numbers. Yes people are dying from many options yet certain weapons are making the number of injured and casualties much higher.
Jeff continued to say, “The building we were going to have the symposium was one of the crime scenes because someone was shot in front. One of the first issues we were going to discuss with university administration was about improving protocols for students to communicate disturbing behavior by other students. They of course existed…but we were concerned about how clear and explicit they were. Like so many, this kid could have been stopped.”
When will our nations leaders step across the political divide and stand united for our citizens, for our safety and for our future?