In my last post, I told you I was taking a break from posting about my vacation while I had my granddaughter here for part of her Easter break....and I showed you a wall-hanging she was very happily making with me for her room. We finished it and it is hanging on her bedroom wall now...and we had a few fun days of baking and going to the movies and all that fun "grandma" stuff. But....I still can't get my head back into posting about my vacation and here is why.....
The day before we took Jessi home, a 32-year-old neighbor of theirs (who was a doctor) was shot and killed in the parking lot of their complex. This is a very nice apartment complex in a very nice area of Voorhees, NJ. (The news media actually described it as an upscale area.) It turns out the killer was another doctor who held a grudge against this neighbor.....believing the neighbor had caused him to be dismissed from a medical residency program. Of course, that isn't true.....the murderer wasn't doing well in that program, but he was looking for someone to blame...and this unlucky doctor was "it". (Additionally, it turns out the shooter also murdered his girlfriend in NC a few days earlier.) As you can imagine, this was all very upsetting to anyone even remotely acquainted with the man who was murdered and it is very sad that he left a young widow and an 18-month old child. If there was any luck at all that day, it was that the neighbors were quick to react and got a description of the shooter's vehicle and a license plate number. He was caught a mile away from the scene and....when the police approached the car and told him to get out, he took that same gun and turned it on himself and he died a short time later in the emergency room of the very hospital from which he had been dismissed as a resident.
When we took Jessi home and watched her the next day while her mom was at work, we witnessed the raw and heartbreaking grief of the young widow as she stood in that parking lot and sobbed and cried as her family was overseeing a moving company remove her furnishings from the home so she could go elsewhere and get away from a place that will forever hold such painful memories for her...and as family and friends set up a flower memorial in the parking space in which that young doctor was murdered. At my age, I have witnessed many grieving people...but this was the first time I was exposed to the grief of someone who lost a loved one in such a violent (and premeditated) way.....and it was absolutely bone-chilling. I am still trying to grapple with it all in my mind. To compound this is the fact that my daughter had walked to her car to leave for work at the very moment the killer was sitting in that parking lot waiting to commit that murder of her neighbor.....and I realize if the timing had been different, my daughter could have become an innocent victim of this crime. I also realize how....in one instant....so many lives can be changed forever.
So...please excuse this post for not having any pictures...and please excuse me for needing a bit more time to get back to talking about my happy vacation. I can't quite do much with "happy" right at this time.
25 comments:
This kind of thing really blows my mind...I don't understand it...
And, to complicate matters - it always seems that the sorry bastard who commits this type of crime is a chicken and ends up killing himself. Why the hell not just kill yourself and be done with it without harming someone else???
So very sad, Pat. I just can't imagine how awful that would be.
I'm of the opinion of Sara.
Pat, I'm sending you warm thoughts and a beam of sunshine!!
Oh Pat, how very sad. I just don't see how someone can murder in cold blood. Just doesn't make sense to me. I'll say a prayer for this family. It is just sad. Nothing more to say.
Oh my goodness, pat...bone chilling is right!, I am so grateful that your daughter is safe, how vey sad!
How very sad. So many families affected by the senselessness.
So sad (((((((Pat & family)))))))
Pat, I read about this in the local news soon after it happened. I can only imagine the feelings you are having.
Take your time...we will be here.
Im sure your heart was breaking for this young mom. Unfortunately I've witnessed it time and time again in our military career. I don't know that you ever get past it be thankful you didn't see the shooting too. I always wonder how folks are brought to the edge and feel they need to lash out and hurt others. Find some happy thoughts and keep yourself busy so you can't dwell on it. Hugs
Pat, I remember this very well, as it was on our local news. I'm only about 40 minutes from Voorhees. On the news, you could see how distraught and shocked the neighbors were and I remember thinking what a horrible ordeal. Thank God your granddaughter wasn't home and your daughter is safe. It's a sad sad situation for everyone.
I'm so sorry, this world can be such a violent, angry place....
Sending prayers of comfort and peace your way, Pat ~
hugs, pokey
What a senseless tragedy! I just don't understand why so many people seem to think violence is the only answer to their problems. :0(
Borrowed Todd's laptop so I could send *hugs* your way. :)
What a heartbreaking situation for all those whose lives have been touched by such violence. My thoughts and prayers are with you.
I'm so sorry, Pat...it's going to take time to process all the grief you witnessed. Take your time and reflect on the many blessings you have and the gifts we receive each day from the Lord. Never take them for granted. Hugs!
Oh my gosh Pat! That is a terrible story. So senseless and sad. Glad that your family is safe. Take your time. Don't worry about us. We will be here when you return. In the mean time, enjoy your vacation memories. Maybe they can balance out some of the horrors. Hugs!
omg Pat, how horrible that you and your family have been touched by this most heinous of crimes! It really is a wake-up call to how precious and tentative life is...and everything can change in an instant! I don't fear the "what if's" but I do have a healthy respect for them..my own hubby witnessed his friend's murder at the tender age of 22 and it changed him. I don't think encountering any terrible violent crime can leave you without scars. So I don't blame you for having difficulty with "routine" things at the moment! You're in my prayer as is the widow's and her family. Sometimes there is no room for happiness, but it will return with time ;)
There's no explaining senseless things like this. Voorhees is not far from me, and I feel the unsettling proximity. Take time, and be well.
Oh Pat .....I saw this on the news ... very very sad and scary
Pat, I am so sorry that this horrible crime happened and that you had to witness the tragic aftermath first hand. I went through something similar a few years ago. After my parents past away my husband and I were living in the house that I grew up in. It was a quiet residential street, where everyone knew one another for decades. But it was also near a freeway entrance. So a man chose our street as the location to murder his exwife and child. Just two houses down from ours. There was a horrible shoot out and the police and media swarmed our street. It breaks my heart to think about it still. When the shootout started we were all sitting at the dinner table and heard the gun fire. It turned the world upside down and made me fear and question the safety of all my loved ones. I can understand why you can't feel happy right now. It is going to take some time to heal. I'm so sorry that you had to witness such suffering Pat, and I will keep you all in my thoughts and prayers. I'm so glad you wrote about your feelings and told us what happened. With Love, Delisa
wow, so sad!
Hugs and prayers! My heart hurts for all the victims. May the Lord send comfort their way!
Oh my goodness! This is heartbreaking and so scary to even think that your daughter was so close to this. We just never ever know but this event has changed you forever. (just like the death of my sister in law). It sure makes you want to do more, hug more, and love more. Praying for that family and thanking the Lord for having that hedge of protection around your daughter. You take all the time you need, Praying for you.
Just checking in on you....
I hear you....I would be haunted by it....I sent up a prayer for that young family.......so sad.
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