Tuesday, December 11, 2012

Tragedy at Clackamus Town Center

It was a sort of normal day. I had to be home with the Littles in the morning so that was a bit different. Then I went into the office and was part of a few interviews for a position that is open in our office until it was time to go home. So that was a little different. I guess it was not a normal day. It was not far out of the ordinary though. When that changed was on my ride home from work.

I love music. All sorts of music, but I just love music. So when I get in my car, the radio is usually turned on and blaring right away until it is commercial time and then songs from my phone are on. I love music. I got in my car and flipped around the stations searching for a great "ride home" song to pop on. I was getting into line on our new "The onramp light is on" ramp and getting irritated that it took 8 minutes to actually get onto the freeway. Suddenly I hear some serious conversation going on one of the stations. There has been some sort of shooting at Clackamus Town Center shopping mall!

What!?

Then, I see 12 police cars and police vans fly north on the freeway as I head south. This is not good. Then 8 more! What is happening? A tragedy. Two people were killed by a man and a 15 year old girl was critically wounded. The shooter? Shot himself. It could've been much worse, but his gun jammed. I found out that Steven Foresyth, one of the people who was killed, was a co-worker of a friend of mine. Crazy.

I was kind of irritated that my day was different and that I had an extra 8 minute wait trying to get onto the freeway. Yet, here I discover this terrible thing. I turned on my Police Scanner app and listened to the Clackamus County police department talking about where they were looking and what they were doing. My heart ached. Still does. Such a senseless act.

These kinds of things happen every day around the world and we carry on with our lives as if nothing has happened. It is normal. Strange that we live our days going about normal routines when somewhere, someone is going through a life-altering experience. When you think about it, your mind can get a bit messed up. But we have to go on with our lives. One moment at a time. If we were to take the tragedy of the world on our shoulders every time something happened we could not bear it.

Today I take a moment and pause. I am praying for the families and friends of those who were killed and shot. For those who witnessed it. For those who will likely deal with some level of post traumatic stress disorder. For those who don't know how to go on.

Today I will make an effort to not be so irritated by delays or things not going my way.


1 comment:

Rmacg7 said...

Good words! Thanks for sharing! I actually had not even heard about this before seeing a comment you made on FB. Praying with you and thinking of others in this world experiencing tragedy as I go on in my "normal" day. Thanks again for sharing!

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