When one thinks of tragedies happening, they do not expect them to happen in their own backyard. You see them on television, read about them in the newspapers or hear about them on the radio. Not by being woken up by a phone call from your daughter in another state, crying, asking, “Mommy are you and my sister safe?” I tell her yes and ask her, “Why?” She tells me to turn on CNN. When I turned on CNN, I felt a feeling that I haven’t ever felt. The feeling was numb. Then all of the people you know and love start going through your head. Wondering, were they there tonight or are they safe at home, in bed?
On July 20, 2012, at 12:39 a.m. a 24 year old James Holmes, living in Denver, Colorado, at the time, enters Theater 9 with one thing on his mind. Murder, no that’s not the word I need, Massacre, yeah that’s the word. He felt so depressed with his life that he decided to take as many lives from people that he could in one night. The total was 12 lives, gone, when all they wanted to do was go to the opening of Batman, “The Dark Knight Rises”. Spend time with family or friends at the movies.
52 injured, one is a dear friend of my girl’s and mine, Michael White. He was on a date with his girlfriend, Ferrah. She still remains in ICU. Shot in the Abdominal area, she lost her spline and a kidney. Left with a lifetime of fear, post traumatic stress disorder, never wanting to see a movie again in a theater. Michael, was shot in the arm, he was released in a few days, still recovering. His life will never be the same either. He will encounter the same symptoms as Ferrah. He is the security guard of Prairie Middle School. My oldest daughter who is away in Nebraska at College, remembers Michael yelling at her in the halls of the Middle School, telling her to get to class. Every time she is home on vacation she goes up to the school to see him. Also, to show him how great she turned out after all.
You never know when your time is nearing the end. We all take life for granted and shouldn’t. I think it’s human nature. When something happens in your own backyard, it definitely changes your way of life. I grew up going to Century 16. My children all hung out there. It was our neighborhood theater. My youngest daughter, 13, would have been there if it was a Friday night instead of a Thursday night / Friday morning. To see all the victims and the pain and fear in their eyes is unforgettable. Aurora will never be the same. We will never forget.
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