Senseless

It is incredible how events can trigger flashbacks. I was talking to my Aunt Terry yesterday about a terrible event she had to witness earlier this week. She was present when a colleague of hers received the phone call no parent wants to receive. Her colleague's daughter, Alissa, had been shot and killed. What a senseless crime. Alissa was stalked by a former Hooters customer and that individual took her life on Monday. My aunt just said it was a terrible thing to witness. A parent's world crashing in around them. I have witnessed such a tragedy firsthand and there are just no words to describe it.

I live in such a small town. I was getting ready to tell my husband about this terrible story when our phone rang last night. A neighbor from his childhood was calling to tell him that Alissa had been murdered. I found out that my husband and Alissa had once been neighbors and my brother-in-law rode the school bus with her. My little sister, Angela, was in the same high school class as Alissa and said that she was the sweetest person. The type of person who was nice to everyone. It just seems so unfair. What a tragedy.

A separate worry I have is that my baby sister, Angela, is a Hooters waitress. She has "regulars" that come to see her all of the time. I know she has had a few stalkers as well. Some of these customers do think that they spend so much money on the girls and feel entitled to special attention. What happens if Angela gets a customer that has a serious mental health disorder? It is just so scary.

As I was talking to my aunt, I could not control the flashbacks of when my friend, Michelle, passed away our senior year in high school. She was hospitalized for a little over a week for Meningitis. It was like a terrible dream that you just wish you would wake up from. Her family, our circle of high school friends, our high school priest...we were all at the hospital. All of my friends and I rushed up when we received the call that she had coded. As I entered the waiting room with several of my friends, we were told that we lost her. Her parents came into the waiting room shortly afterward...and it was an absolute nightmare. It is something I will never forget as long as I live. One of the worst moments of my life. I met Michelle's parents for breakfast last year. It was evident to me that each day is still a struggle - over 11 years later.

I think that is what bothers me the most about Alissa's tragic death and hearing about how her mother found out the worst news of her life. I know that life will never be the same for her. She will never get over this. The road ahead is going to be a really difficult one.

My heart just aches for her.

Please keep Alissa's mother, Connie, in your thoughts and prayers as well as her father, stepfather, brothers, sisters, and new husband.