I woke up Friday morning ready to head out to my favorite Zumba class and later an hour of weight lifting, but never left the house after learning about the theater killings. The image that appeared before me on the screen caused my heart to do a few somersaults. A former French student of mine was being interviewed. She spoke of her fear that her friends had been in the theater, and no one had been able to contact them.
I live 30 minutes from the theater and could not believe what I was seeing on television. I tried to compose myself by praying. My mind went back to the times my two older children and their friends had attended many late-night premieres of Harry Potter movies. Foolishly, even though my youngest had stayed home the night before, I still ran upstairs to make sure he was in his room. I breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing him in his bed, sound asleep.
To make matters worse, I called my daughter who lives in Los Angeles, and she was in a hurry to get off the phone. “Mom, I can’t talk to you right now, I am heading out to go see the new Batman movie.” My heart did a few more somersaults. “Please, I beg you, do not go,” I said. She was not aware of what had happened in Colorado.
Columbine has left its mark in my hometown of Littleton, Colorado. Now these senseless killings in Aurora have me very baffled. I am deeply troubled that Mayor Bloomberg of New York began politicizing the killings before the victims were identified. I am hoping this will not turn into a huge political debate.
In my opinion, this is not the time to start using a major tragedy to fulfill any type of political agenda. Clearly, James Holmes is a very sick person and it is certainly haunting the way he obtained so much ammunition. In the meantime, I am hoping all types of political agendas will not become more important than the healing and grieving process of this horrific act of violence perpetrated against innocent victims.
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