Today is the one year anniversary of the senseless theater shooting in Aurora, Colorado. That theater is about a 30 minute drive from my house. Another scene of gun violence in the past, Columbine High School, is 15 minutes away.
I remember the words of Jessica Redfield, one of the victims of the Aurora violence, after she ironically avoided another shooting in a Toronto shopping mall one month earlier. She wrote this on her blog about that Toronto incident:
“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.”
