On May 7, 2019, I was in my office when a colleague came in and asked me where my kids go to school: “Stem Highlands Ranch,” I responded. “There has been a shooting,” she then said. It wasn’t until one hour later that I heard my daughter’s voice on the phone, and it wasn’t until three hours after that we were reunited.
Some moments in life get stored in our bodies forever. I still catch myself going back to that moment: Reality sinking in at what appeared surreal.
A few days later, I came across the song “In Everything You Do.” I play it on an infinite loop:
I wish that I could keep you from pain,
But like a storm, pain will form,
But I’ll teach you how to face it,
To be weak, yet strong in grace,
I wish that I could keep you from fear,
But, like the night, fear will rise,
So I’ll hold till love suffices…
I am grateful for the support of this survivor community that “holds me till love suffices, to drive far the dark devices,” so that I can choose life and love in the face of fear.