I feel I would be remiss to not mention the events that surrounded the Chiefs. For the last month, the whole area has been engulfed in red. The kids at school have been wearing red for the two weeks before the Super Bowl. My kids don’t have any Chief’s gear, but plenty of red. Mostly U of W, which I found hilarious. I was hearing about Taylor Swift and the Chiefs the minute they came home from school every day.
When the
Chiefs won in that landmark game, our area went mad! There were fireworks and
celebrating and I was astounded at the fierceness of it all. The schools and
most of the businesses closed down to celebrate the triumphant return. I never
for a moment thought of going to the parade, but I knew many who went. I heard
about the shooting almost as soon as it happened. I was so grateful that we
didn’t go. In America, a shooting is almost an inevitability. A total of 754 people were killed and 2,443
other people were injured in 604 shootings last year alone in mass shootings.
That doesn’t even touch the domestic disturbances or smaller incidents. That said, I never want my kids to feel that
there is a gun at every corner. So, I was so glad that they heard of this incident
from more of a distance. They have been around plenty of sad and disturbing
things, but I hope to shield them from the worst if I can.
The
Sunday following the tragedy, our youth speaker attended the parade and
rally with her sister. They had entered Union Station and felt inspired to
leave. As they were heading out of the building, they heard the shots and the
panic. They got out fast, and she testified of the reality of the Holy Spirit
and Heavenly Father’s care. It was a somber meeting. The week before we had the
funeral of a young man who died suddenly. That Sunday was a repeat funeral. He
had meant a lot to the ward. This month has been hard for them.
I don’t
have a nice way to tie this up, it was a horrible event with no real
resolution. I am so heartbroken for the families affected.
No comments:
Post a Comment