On December 18th my husband and I went to Columbia Mall and ended up in JC Penney’s around 2:30 or so.  We took off in separate directions to find what we were shopping for.  Minutes later a 71 year old woman, having a diabetic seizure, accidentally drove her vehicle into the store about 100 feet injuring 6 people.  While people around me started running towards the scene, I took off in the opposite direction to find my husband, praying he hadn’t become a victim of her illness.

Before heading to the mall, we were arguing and nipping at each other, but her diabetic seizure changed all that.  We felt fortunate to walk away together that day.  Had anyone recognized that she was struggling with her diabetes? Or had we chosen to just go about our business unaware and not caring?   

On Saturday morning January 11th in Tucson, Arizona, a 22 year old man calmly walked up to a Safeway store and maliciously shot 11 people, killing 6 of them, including a 9 year old girl.  A person full of anger changed a beautiful day into a nightmare.  No diabetic seizure, no accident just a well-acted out plan to express his anger.  This individual had shown several people signs of his slow descent into madness months before this event.  The people that knew him said nothing about his dangerous behavior and did nothing to help him.  They had closed their eyes and hearts to his cries.

His actions have caused us to change many of our own behaviors.  We must no longer overlook words of anger, whether written or spoken, from a person who is crying out for attention or help.  We must learn to be more aware, paying attention to those around us who may be showing signs of an intent to inflict harm on others.  We must no longer take for granted those we wake up to every morning and come home to every night.  We must no longer bicker over petty differences, but do our best to work through them.  We must stop closing our hearts and minds, being constantly aware of the needs of others, doing our best to reach out.  Can we stop the madness and heal the hurting? I believe we can.

Gabrielle Gifford woke up one Saturday morning, spoke to her husband, then with a passionate heart for the people of Arizona went to her 1st 2011 congressional forum in front of a Safeway.  She had no idea that within the hour she would be fighting to survive a bullet to the head inflicted by a deranged individual who just wanted to be heard.  

At the memorial President Obama said, “The loss of these wonderful people should make every one of us strive to be better.  To be better in our private lives, to be better friends and neighbors and coworkers and parents”.  This weekend let’s commit to becoming better in every area of our lives and open our hearts to others.  Gabriel Gifford opened her eyes!  Will we also open ours?

Read more at the San Francisco Examiner.

Harriet

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