11 shot.
2 dead.

You never expect events like this to happen so close. Sure, you see them on the news. You feel sadness for the loss of the families. But you never truly "understand". You never think it will happen here. Until it does. 

Unless you live a very avid life as a hermit you have probably seen it. Posted all over the news, radio, and internet. I think I will remember this day for the rest of my life... I live a small town next to Lafayette (about 15 min away). We go often. At least 2 times a week. That could have been us in there. Thank god it wasn't .. But that doesn't make it any less heart breaking.

The night I found out I was watching a movie. My brother was on the sofa next to me browsing through Facebook when he saw the first post. I immediately got onto my phone and checked on my loved ones. I saw agonizing post from my friends who knew of the ones that were murdered. And my heart went out to them. I texted a coworker seeing if she had went to the movies as planned and they had decided not to that night. 

What struck me the most was a local news anchor. One I had grew up watching as a kid and now as a young adult break down. She was so strong... she kept her head high and read the names of the fallen. One of the girls who had passed away was the daughter of a very good friend. She still showed up to work, kept her head high, and delivered us up to date information. Between her voice breaking and tears she read the names of people who were hurt and killed. It was at that point that I broke down. This doesn't effect just one person. It effects us all.


This adversity that we were forced to be faced with is one that has rocked our community, but in doing so, it has brought us closer together as a whole. In my opinion ... I feel like our community has handled this misfortune with grace and dignity that I have not seen with any other mass shooting. This may be because I was not there with those families. I'm in no way saying that any of the other tragedies are any less important ... or terribly heart breaking. 

We have seen people who took bullets for others in that theater. We have seen our community stand up to a church that preaches hate. We have seen crowds of people that couldn't stand to be together in the same room lock arms. Life isn't about race, age, or sexual orientation. This loss of life is so much more troubling than trying to label it with a brand of hate. 

Our community of south-central Louisiana is much more than that label or a stereotype. We are a family, and sure, families fight. But if you pick on one of our own... we will turn around, knock your a** down, and keep on fighting. 

We are a community. We are a family. We are #LafayetteStrong.