Gunsmoke Blues

Earlier this month there was a shooting at a local store where I sometimes shop, a random bystander was shot. Another random guy rushed to the wounded man. Finding no pulse he began CPR. An off-duty police officer seeing them kicked the fellow performing CPR to the ground who died a few hours later from head injuries. At the time this happened I was shopping at the other nearby branch of the same store chain. That last detail somehow made the shooting catastophe nearer to me than it actually was.

Here are the names of the five people dead--another 18 wounded--in the Club Q mass shooting: Kelly Loving, Daniel Davis Aston, Derrick Rump, Raymond Green Vance, and Ashley Paugh.

The obituaries for a couple of the victims pointed out they were not "members of the LBGTQ community." I understand the point, but also note that being in a loving relationship with a community means a lot. My heart goes out to the army veteran Richard Fierce who subdued the gunman along with other patrons. His daughter's boyfriend, since middle school, was killed. All of this hurts a lot.

In thinking about these victims I was reminded of reading about the victims of the mass shooting at the Tops Friendly Market in Buffalo in May. Thirteen where killed and reading about them I shook my head and whispered: “What nice people.”

I work in a store. If I survive should there be a mass shooting there, I suppose I will read about the lives and accomplishments of those lost. Sometimes customers are cranky, and sometimes I'm just cranky about customers. But something the lives lost to these indecent incidents reminds me is that everyday I am surrounded by people whose stories of life are richer than I expect.

With all that's going haywire, we've got to find ways to love one another.

 Gunsmoke Blues by Buddy Guy