Thank you, Bethel. Bend was our home for over a decade before we returned to our home in CA. My best friend there was in her truck waiting for someone when she heard the gunfire, got her own gun out of the glove compartment. She also knew the eleven-year-old who died and knew his father well. That family is contemplating leaving Bend. Another friend started a GoFund drive for the family to escape Bend for awhile. My former city home is in deep mourning. It remains surreal for me. Thank you for bringing attention to this hero, this city, this abdication of appropriate responses to the shooter and his family for years. A former therapist, I shudder at the PTSD of so many people as a result of this horror. Thank you again for paying attention to this nightmare, allowing us to feel a few things that tug at our hearts, souls, minds and spirits.
Wow, that's amazing. I've also gotten to know a pastor who ministers there and has families in his congregation with connection to the victims. I'm so sorry for your old community's heartbreak, it sounds like a beautiful town.
Thank you , Bethel. I agree that the book Shane is far superior to the movie. I remember reading it with my sons and having a sense of fierce admiration for such a man as Shane . He also steadfastly honored the marriage of the woman in the story.
Your substack could also be called No Little People for how much it brings out detail in ordinary lives of people who get caught up in large or small historical events. Thank you for writing this one.
AMEN.
Thank you, Bethel. Bend was our home for over a decade before we returned to our home in CA. My best friend there was in her truck waiting for someone when she heard the gunfire, got her own gun out of the glove compartment. She also knew the eleven-year-old who died and knew his father well. That family is contemplating leaving Bend. Another friend started a GoFund drive for the family to escape Bend for awhile. My former city home is in deep mourning. It remains surreal for me. Thank you for bringing attention to this hero, this city, this abdication of appropriate responses to the shooter and his family for years. A former therapist, I shudder at the PTSD of so many people as a result of this horror. Thank you again for paying attention to this nightmare, allowing us to feel a few things that tug at our hearts, souls, minds and spirits.
Wow, that's amazing. I've also gotten to know a pastor who ministers there and has families in his congregation with connection to the victims. I'm so sorry for your old community's heartbreak, it sounds like a beautiful town.
Thank you , Bethel. I agree that the book Shane is far superior to the movie. I remember reading it with my sons and having a sense of fierce admiration for such a man as Shane . He also steadfastly honored the marriage of the woman in the story.
I like those stories like Casablanca where the husband is a really great guy and so you're not rooting for the marriage to fail.
Your substack could also be called No Little People for how much it brings out detail in ordinary lives of people who get caught up in large or small historical events. Thank you for writing this one.