Monsoon Sunset in Tucson
“This will be our reply to violence: to make music more intensely, more beautifully, more devotedly than ever before.”
I lived in Arizona from 1998 to 2007 and in Tucson for six of those years, and I feel a stormy mixture of emotions from the violence that occurred on Saturday. I know people who have been directly affected by the shootings, and – though I try – I cannot fully imagine what they must be going through. It is unimaginable.
Nevertheless, I do feel. I’m sad for the terrible loss of wonderful people to a madman’s gun. I’m infuriated that this obviously troubled person was able to obtain a gun in the first place. I’m deeply afraid that more people will think that violence is an acceptable way to express themselves.
There can be light at the end of this tunnel, however.
We can strive to see the humanity of those who are different from ourselves. It’s so easy to write off people with whom we don’t agree or identify, but we all deserve to live our lives without intimidation. We’re all imperfect, and we’re all in this together.
Finally, we can learn about the people killed on Saturday. There are many inspiring stories amidst the sadness. Many of them had a rich life of helping people and of public service. All of them were people gathered to make their district and their country a better place. We can honor them by continuing that work in whatever ways we can.
When I went to school today many people had not even heard about it. Though I can’t imagine that much distance from real life there seems to be a chunk of folks who are doing just fine not caring too much one way or the other. They have no connection to Arizona, as we do; they have no idea who Gabrielle Giffords is, let alone Judge Roll or Gabe, as we do; they have not taken this on as a national tragedy. In fact, they were otherwise engaged when it happened and have no comment to make about it.
Bizarre. Don’t know how they could miss it. I feel like it’s everywhere. I’m currently listening to one of several stories about it on NPR.