Lives changed as lives were lost five years ago today when Tucson changed forever. It was not the first time Tucson opened her arms and gathered survivors of mass gun violence to her breast to hold and heal families in her embrace.
October 29th 2002
Robin E. Rogers, Barbara Monroe, and Cheryl McGaffic, all instructors in the U of A School of Nursing were gunned down by a disturbed and failing student who also shot himself. All died. This was the first time Tucson met with a mass shooting in recent history. A student killing his instructors and professors was personally unsettling. My husband is a Professor at this same University.
January 8th 2011
A gunman attempting to assassinate U.S. Representative Gabrielle Giffords killed six other Tucsonans: Christina Taylor Green, Dorothy “Dot” Morris, John Roll, Phyllis Schneck, Dorwan Stoddard, Gabriel “Gabe” Zimmerman.
13 other people were gunned down, but lived.
January 8th 2016
Five years later, today, there will be bell ringings and memorial services at a few places in Tucson. A survivor invited me to attend the bell ceremony at the university hospital down the street at 10:10 a.m. I want to attend.
This day reminds me of the precious, tenuous nature of life. My daughter is in Tucson with her fiancé and in the few days we have together while she is here, we are planning her wedding that will take place later this year. So while I cannot be at the commemoration, I write, remember and hold those who were there in the light.
No one wants to be defined by violence. No person. No community. We cannot help but be shaped by our histories. What we do and how we live in the moment, in all those precious moments of life, are how families and communities, define ourselves. We must not forget the moments that shaped us, but it is far more important that we live fully and dedicate ourselves to changing what we can so that tragic moments need not recur.
Friends as Survivors
Suzi, Mary, Jim, Ron and Gabby range from friends, to friends of friends, to acquaintances, to a Representative I’ve lobbied and met with, and protested. I, like so many other Tucsonans, have their backs and are grateful for the strength and grace they continue show as you put one foot in front of other, in some cases after having to relearn how to do so.
Community
Our personal legacies and community legacy interweave around this unwanted anniversary. Legacy draws us together in the small town that is at the core of this large city. That legacy reaches back beyond historic times. There have been people here for thousands of years. Legacy is palpable here where cultures and histories blend into community. The community is sad but strong. Tucson grieves. Tucson heals. Together Tucson grows together into a stronger place towards a better tomorrow.
I live in Dallas, so I know what you mean by violence defining a place. But as the generations move on, it becomes less and less so.
Yes, Tam, School Book Depository does not evoke in my daughter what it does for me. We all move into the future.
My heart goes out to you and all who suffered such grievous loss and all who continue to suffer such tragedies. We must must MUST get hold of this problem.
Yes we MUST!
It is time to put a stop to gun violence. It is insane that wonderful American cities are now known more for the tragedies that occurred in them than all the beautiful things that should define them.
Cities, especially such an old place as Tucson, being redefined by guns violence is not acceptable.
I don’t know, but every time I read or hear about all the violence in today’s society, it makes me think of the Old Western culture in this country. In the end peace triumphed and flourished. It will again because that’s what peace does.
Oh, Toni, I so hope you are right.
Yes, we must get a hold of this issue for sure. My heart goes out to all of those who suffer.
Yes, too much loss and not enough love.
September 11, 2001. I stand at the bus stop on a cloudless day filled with sunshine. My son gets on the school bus and I’m off to a PTA meeting. A woman runs into the meeting to say the World Trade Center was attacked. I run from the meeting and drive to take my son out of school, go home and hear that the other tower was attacked. I call my husband who works in a tower near Manhattan to beg him to come home. My brother is in Manhattan and I try a million times to reach him. Panic sets in.
Violence is everywhere and we are touched by senseless, tragic loss. No one is safe, guns are everywhere and politics are another battlefield. It’s an insane world we live in. Where will it end?
Blessings to all who lost their lives and to those in Tucson I bow my head in prayer.
I so remember that day too! My step daughter works near there. Thank you for your prayers.
That’s why I’m so glad President Obama is taking the steps he is taking. It’s so important for this country.
Yes!
Gun violence in America always makes me appreciate how fortunate we are to live in Australia where we don’t assume to have the right to bear arms. Nobody carries a gun (besides the police) and I like that we don’t have the tragic loss of life that so many in the US have experienced first hand.
Leanne | http://www.crestingthehill.com.au
U for Understand Yourself