Relativity

A friend of mine send me a link to this blog this morning. Specifically to this post, beautifully-written about this young girl's near death experience during the Eaton Center shooting at the beginning of June. Already, reading this account, I had chills. How fragile is this life? How fickle? But a few minutes later, by simply typing "Eaton shooting" in Google, I found out that this very girl, this girl who had escaped death and who had learned to be more appreciative of her life, was killed in yet another senseless shooting in Colorado last night! At this point, I had tears in my eyes. Why her? Why so soon? She was in Toronto, Canada then in Denver, Colorado. Two different countries, two different regions and yet, the same. The same hate-filled crime, the same firearm, the same setting: a place where people go to get entertained and unwind (one a movie theater and the other a shopping mall). So, again, as I've said it at length on here, I URGE you to start living. See beauty everywhere. Be happy with your circumstances. Because, shit, we might not be there tomorrow. xox

Here's an excerpt from her blog:

"My receipt shows my purchase was made at 6:20 pm. After that purchase I said I felt funny. It wasn’t the kind of funny you feel after spending money you know you shouldn’t have spent. It was almost a panicky feeling that left my chest feeling like something was missing. A feeling that was overwhelming enough to lead me to head outside in the rain to get fresh air instead of continuing back into the food court to go shopping at SportChek. The gunshots rung out at 6:23. Had I not gone outside, I would’ve been in the midst of gunfire.


I was shown how fragile life was on Saturday. I saw the terror on bystanders’ faces. I saw the victims of a senseless crime. I saw lives change. I was reminded that we don’t know when or where our time on Earth will end. When or where we will breathe our last breath. For one man, it was in the middle of a busy food court on a Saturday evening.


I say all the time that every moment we have to live our life is a blessing. So often I have found myself taking it for granted. Every hug from a family member. Every laugh we share with friends. Even the times of solitude are all blessings. Every second of every day is a gift. After Saturday evening, I know I truly understand how blessed I am for each second I am given."