Putting love first

49 lives were lost in a single night.

49 phones that ring will forever be unanswered.

Over 50 others were put in a hospital, psychologically affected and forever traumatized.

Close to 100 families put through the worst circumstances possible, waiting to see if their loved one survived.

All because of one man fueled by hatred and bigotry.

After hearing the news about Christina Grimmie being shot to death Friday night, I was shocked when I woke up this morning to see yet another shooting had occurred.

One shooting that claimed the title of the worst mass shooting in American history.

As I sat in shock, tears came to my eyes; my heart sank as I read on and on as the events unfolded in the CNN story.

This afternoon I read a quote that said “CNN just described something I’ve never thought of – as investigators are inside the nightclub, where many of the bodies are still where they fell, they have to tune out the nightmarish sound of all of the deceased phones’ ringing constantly as loved ones try to reach them.”

This post on Facebook stuck with me and as I thought about it one word came to my mind.

Why?

How many more shootings and how many more lives do we have to witness before we realize there is a problem?

I have always been one for peace, I have never agreed with war or violence.

If this country does not stop supporting hate crimes we will never get rid of the terrorism that has come full force into people’s lives.

We need to stand as a country regardless of race, gender, sexuality or religion.

It’s past time we put love first, only then can we begin to grow and fight terrorism.

 

This post has been updated to remove the motive connected to Christina Grimmie’s death. No motive has currently been released by law enforcement. It also updated total deaths to 49.