Inspiration

Will a hug help?

Shelley

Beginning today, treat everyone you meet as if they were going to be dead by midnight.  Extend to them all the care, kindness and understanding you can muster, and do it with no thought of any reward.  Your life will never be the same again. – Og Mandino

I wish a hug would help our small little town recover from this.  When the pain is so real, so fresh, so unrelentingly painful, a hug may help?  I dunno, though.

Our small hometown experienced horror this past weekend.  The news shared what happened, not why it happened.  That didn’t make it any easier to hear.

5 lives lost, including a 9-year old nephew, a brother, a mother, a 24-year old girl who supposedly he never knew (her parents were shot at the second scene and each one lost one of their arms), and then the shooter himself took his own life – at the end of a senseless shooting spree.

Mental health is real and sad, and sometimes unexplainable things happen.  The perpetrator no doubt had mental issues.  Doesn’t make it easy to understand or feel compassion for someone who could do such extensive harm.

My heart goes out to our town and those who know the victims and their families. And their friends who held them dear, their employers, their neighbors, and our community at large.  My daughter graduated with the girl and my niece and her family knew the young boy.  It’s hard when it hits home so close.

Post Inspiration – #1LinerWednesday (Linda G. Hill’s) and #JulySquares and #Blue

PS – Sorry for the solemn post today.  My heart is heavy.  Please keep our town in your thoughts and prayers as well as the families affected.  xx

 

Published by Shelley

Letting my quirk out one post at a time.

34 thoughts on “Will a hug help?”

  2. Sending a hug your way Shelley. These things seem to be happening more and more. Yesterday on the Toronto news, a young man of 24 shot his mother, father, sister and grandmother for no apparent reason. A few weeks ago he was saying a nice speech about them at their 25th wedding anniversary party. They only caught him because he posted on some online gaming venue what he had done and the police came to the door (of a very nice house) and arrested him. It is beyond comprehension what the motive can be in these cases, especially when they end up shooting themselves too. If they are in such pain that they feel the need to lash out, why do they always have to take other innocent victims with them. I think some kind of distraction would be a good thing for you to do today, something to take your mind off the news. Maybe an uplifting movie?

    1. Aw, thank you, Joni. I appreciate your thoughts. It is the senseless part that is so hard to process. Our local sheriff tends to believe this was a copycat type of crime. Time will hopefully tell. Or maybe we’ll never know. I did go to a wonderful outside concert in the park in a neighboring town – the overwhelming feeling of community in the crowd on a beautiful summer night was a start to feel a bit better as life goes on. xx

  3. We all weep with you. Such a sad state of affairs. I send you and your town love and hope for healing from such a senseless tragedy.

  4. These senseless shootings are so hard to fathom. I’m so sorry this has hit your town. Sending you a big virtual hug.

  5. I’m so sorry you and your town are going through this. The media has to be very careful how they cover these stories and focus on the lives lost, the victims and survivors and not the shooters. Thank you for sharing this with us Shelley. I’m sending hugs to you and asking angels to surround and hold your town bringing comfort.

    1. Thank you, JoAnna, I appreciate your thoughts on what should be the focus. Thank you for the hugs and wishes for angels of comfort xx

    1. It is sad. In this instance, it wasn’t even his gun, it was his brother’s gun that he used to kill his own mother, brother, and nephew. Then, within 48 hours later, he stalked and killed the girl and injured her parents. Simply a sick mind at work. 🙁

  8. Beyond awful. And yet becoming more common. So sorry for your town, your friends, your family. It affects everyone. A hug is a good place to start the healing.

  9. This is just so awful and horribly sad. What is wrong with the world? I will never understand these senseless acts. Sending you hugs and keeping you, your family, and your town in my thoughts and prayers. ♥

  10. I’m so sorry for you, Shelley. It is harder when it hits so close. I will keep you as well as the victims in my thoughts. I wish there was more I could do.

    1. Thank you, Dan. It is hard when it is so close. It’s also hard to see how quickly news like this is shoved to the side. One of the girl’s closest friend (of our family as well) posted on Facebook that words were hard to come by, but knowing Laile, she would be working her butt off to help her family. They are farmers and both parents each lost an arm. Their family started a gofundme account and yesterday within a few hours, they had almost reached half way to the goal to pay for the hospital bills. Last night a local band at a concert donated 25 % of the donations they received to the family as well. It is heart warming to watch our community help them out. I appreciate you keeping our town in your thoughts xx

  11. So very sorry for you and your small town. I lift you all in prayer and sent this request to our active prayer chain. May you all begin to feel God’s peace surround you as you heal from this tragedy.

  13. Oh, Shelley, I am so sorry for all the residents of your hometown. What a senseless tragedy! Prayers and hugs are coming your way. My heart is heavy for you and your neighbors.

  14. Shelley, I’m so very sorry your community is feeling this pain firsthand. I fear at some point we’ll ALL know someone personally who’s died from gun violence, and what a terrible world that would be. Sending hugs your way.

    1. Laura, thank you. I so agree, if we all know this at some point in time, what a terrible world we’d be living in. The numbness to red flags prior to this kind of event breaks my heart just as much as when a tragedy actually happens. Thank you for sharing your thoughts and your hugs xx

  15. That is so awful Shelley. It’s so extremely sad and heartbreaking, it brings tears to my eyes. Your town & community as well as those families are forever changed. My heart goes out to you all.

  16. Hi Shelley – I’ve got more of your wonderful posts to enjoy and comment on, but your posts arrive in my notifications area and piqued my interest … I had to read and respond. BTW – for years I did a “Thought for Today” every morning when I was still with the Firm – Og Mandino was a favorite person of mine to quote through the years. How horrible of a tragedy and despite my mind being cluttered with my own issues and busy days right now, I make a point to listen to the news every two hours or so – it is a comprehensive news report of international, national and local news – why did this story not make the news just as the Garlic Festival made the news? It is no less tragic. My heart goes out to anyone who must suffer personal loss of this nature at the expense of senseless crime. We had a local young man get in a traffic accident a week ago and the other driver got out of his car and clubbed him to death – he was caught after a week-long search. I shudder to think what is becoming of this world – how can we think so little of a life and be so disrespectful of others to go on these shooting sprees … this would bother me too and you do not even have to know people personally to just take a deep breath and hang your head in despair.

    1. Thank you, Linda. It is very sad to hear that this one didn’t make the bigger news – our local authorities are still investigating, searching to find the “why”. There has been thoughts that it was a copycat type of deal – I’m sure you did hear about the Jayme Closs case from Barron? I have no idea how news makes it or not, there is way too much noise out there, I truly don’t know how anyone could keep up with it?

      1. Yes, I did hear that case – there is too much going on these days and not any of it makes sense at all. It is tragic no matter how you look at it.

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