Orlando

This has been a very bad week for Orlando, its residents and visitors alike. In one week The Voice singer Christina Grimmie was shot when she was signing autographs for fans after she sang on Friday night. She died later. The next night people were finishing the last drink of the evening when a madman entered The Pulse with an assault weapon and started shooting. 49 were dead and numerous others were injured, some critically, Then, a small boy (2 years old) was playing near the water at one of the Disney Resorts and an alligator came and snatched the boy. He was found dead today.

Folks, we are talking about a 6-day span. What is going on?

I can hardly fathom these tragedies, one after another, not wanting another shoe to drop.

Christina Grimmie was a young, talented girl who was just starting out in her career, her life. Police know who the man was who killed her because he killed himself after he did his deathly deed, but the police do not know a motive. Maybe there was none, but he drove from his home in St. Petersburg to Orlando to kill. Apparently, he thought he was going to kill and then go back home. Glad to hear he did not make it. Sorry to know we will never know the heights Christina could have reached.

Then, the mass murders at a gay nightclub in Orlando. I am beyond words for this one. Another madman walked into a bar at its closing hours and simply opened fire on the partygoers. I understand he also fired more than one shot into some who were already dead. Sick. Sick. Sick. This is one of those happenings that we, as Americans, will never forget. It shows there are no safe places in this world any longer, no matter where you are, no matter who you are.

People in Chicago get killed all the time, even when they are sitting in their house, readying for bed, saying a prayer, they get killed.

It's almost like we are becoming desensitized because of all the killings, and then The Pulse happens, and we sink to a lower level of sorrow. The killings do not bring fear, though, at least not for me and those I know. We only feel sorrow. Deep sorrow. We feel sorrow for the dead, and more for the living who have to relive those moments throughout their lives, and for the family and friends who loved and cared for all whether for those who lost a life or those who lost a sense of trust of returning to a place where friends and family died.

Personally, I feel sorrow because my world as I knew it has ended; it was a world where I roamed without having to look over my shoulder, a world where mass murders occurred but seldom, or a world filled with so much hate that someone would rather kill someone else because another person has what they did not want to work for. I feel sorrow because those who come after me will never know the same freedom of movement we boomers felt as we grew and explored the world we live in.

I do not understand hate. Simply do not understand.

Then, there was the toddler. I would assume after a long day of touring the Disney park(s), the parents were taking a breather by the water about 9 p.m. (It was movie night). Whether or not they saw the sign that said, "No swimming", they knew their toddler was not capable of swimming but he was wading along the lagoon's shores, and that is when the alligator attacked and pulled him in. The father and mother jumped in to save their boy, but to no avail. I can not even fathom the thoughts and feelings these parents are experiencing at this moment.

Just a note on alligators: June is their mating season, and they are nocturnal animals, which means that they are more active at night. But, really folks, respect Mother Nature and Nature. They win over us humans. Do not feed animals, respect their habitat, and never, never go close to a wild animal. Florida is fun, but we do have bears, wolfs, foxes, and alligators.

In between time, though, Orlando, I am sorry for these happenings in your city. Now, enough is enough. No more mass murders, no more hate crimes, no more alligator snatchings. Enough is enough.

Until tomorrow...have a good day...