Forgive me as I go off topic here for a bit. I live in small town USA. It sounds cliche, but this place really does remind me of Mayberry. Due to the proximity of several military bases, we have a strong military presence in our town, we are full of locally owned small businesses, and everyone knows you, or at least knows someone who knows you.These traits have their faults. Trust me, if you've ever been the center of small town gossip, you know how suffocatingly small your world can feel. However, small towns like mine also offer security. We feel isolated from the crime and drama of the big cities.
At least we did. In the last little while, our little corner of the world has been plagued with one senseless tragedy after another. Officers were shot at, and ultimately had to kill a man, while serving a warrant. A young man brandished and shot a firearm at a local retail store and was taken down by law enforcement. We discovered we have a possible serial killer, as the police have surmised that two unsolved homicides and one attempted homicide are all connected. Two evenings ago a man shot and killed his friend just 5 minutes from my home. Yesterday a third grader took a gun to school and accidentally shot a classmate in the stomach. All of this in less than two months.
This morning we woke to the news that a State Patrol officer had been gunned down and killed during a routine traffic stop. The innocence of our small town has been shattered. My day will go on as normal today. I will watch my friend's children this morning as planned. My kids will go to their art class, I'll go to the gym, and we'll all meet up back at home to complete our lessons for the day. There are so many families in our community, however, that will never know normal again. I will go through my day with a heavy heart.
Please, if you are a praying person, offer up a few extra prayers for my small town, that we may know peace once again. It is time for this madness to stop. I have never brought politics into this blog, and I do not intend to now. Please do not use this a platform to preach about gun control, corrupt police forces, or any other political issue. Please, just pray.
How sad!!! Are you in Washington State? If so, we heard about the tragedy on our news here in Vancouver this morning. Take care!!!
ReplyDeleteYes, we're in the west sound area. It's as if our little corner of the world has been turned upside down.
ReplyDeleteIt is so sad. And being the wife of a police officer I constantly have that fear when he is on duty. And a constant wonder of "what is wrong with people?". Its so scary. I hope things get better in your area :)
ReplyDeleteJennifer
oh the third grader... we all heard about it and i live in istanbul! i'm gonna go ahead and tell you what i think. i believe small towns can only offer a false sense of security the 21th century. it is a most horrifying thought for me, because i live in a city with 12 million people and if a small town isn't really safe, where is? but the third grader... i'm a 27 years old newlywed and even i know i could may be not kill, but hurt someone if it comes to it one day, because i've seen enough to build up enough hate to do evil myself now. i've had my touch luck at times. but a third grader? really? how did we all manage to put this story all so stupidly that a third grader imagines bringing a gun to school and in the end shots a kid? because it all begins with the imagination. think about this; if 9.11 never happened would you be able to imagine studying for how long to hijack a number of planes and crush them into various buildings? seriously think about it, i didn't have that kind of imagination before. and now i know there is that kind of thinking... there are people out there capable of this kind of imagination. it all starts there. that kid shouldn't even know what a real gun looks like. that's my opinion.
ReplyDeleteit is sad and i'm sorry you're also going through these tragedies in such a personal way. home is where we should feel safest, home is our shelter. but hope you had the bad luck enough for eternity and things will only look up from now on.
hugs,
becky
I live in the same community (or at least county) as you do. I suspected it when I saw you liked a local business on Facebook, and this post confirms it. I also homeschool my kids, and it sounds like maybe you do too... makes me wonder if we've ever met!
ReplyDeleteIt is sad to see how our area is changing, I left the LA area over 20 years ago to get away from this kind of thing... :(