In honor of today's terrible tragedies and losses, as well as in coordination with the overall theme of UNIT 9 ('The Future and Understanding the Past') as well as the theme of my blog (a simplistic theme, free of clutter and focused on the small yet important things - one of my previous posts was on organization and 'remembering to breathe'), I decided to make my blog post about how important it is to remember the simple things in life and also how easily we tend to forget this.
After following the news throughout the entire day, hearing that the shooter at large in Seattle earlier this afternoon and learning that Seattle Police had finally tracked him down and that more information was being discovered was somewhat reassuring - it allowed Seattleites to feel more at ease while at the same time bring a sort of justice to the horrific acts. The first shootings took place less than a block away from my apartment, the woman was someone close to people I am associated with, and the suspect was finally caught just blocks from where I mainly work. Finally earlier this evening, the news released more personal information on the suspect as well as his victims. I read one specific article (you can find the link below) that caught my attention; the article was one of few that mentioned small pieces of background information on one of the Cafe Racer Ravenna victims and chef, Leonard Meuse. Details included excerpts from his father about who Leonard is as a person; he studied Japanese and zoology at UW, is extremely intelligent, went through pastry school at Seattle Community College and aspires to be a baker.
While these little tidbits of information initially seemed irrelevant to the 'hyped up' information on the shooters whereabouts, condition, etc., I found them to be extremely touching and heartwarming; they reminded me of the simple things in life, such as personal interests or hobbies, achievements (both academic and personal) and what comes to mind when our family members think of us. Most importantly, they brought me 'back down to earth' and allowed me to think of Leonard Meuse as a person with interests, friends, family and a life, rather than simply a victim of Seattle's unexpected 'Deadly Day.' It really made me think about my past, future and how important it is for all of us to recognize the little things in life every once in a while.
Check out the article here:
http://o.seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2018320941_meuse31m.html
K.
I definatly understand where you are coming from and that these people aspired to be something and make a difference in this world. But what I dont understand is why this shooting gets so much press. Why don't other shootings in different parts of Seattle have get coverage? Arent they people too? Everyone knew about this incident fairly quickly and the police set out to find a suspect fast. But if this had happened in the south end of Seattle instead of the north end, would the same thing happen?
ReplyDeleteIt is interesting. Yesterday afternoon, our Accounting people were shocked about what happened since this incident was not far from where we work, and we tried to find out what was going on. One of my coworkers had almost the same comments that you had.She did not react the same way we did. Now I am wondering if this kind of things happened more often in the south end of Seattle than in the north end of Seattle. My husband lives in Seattle for more than 40 years. He said that he has never heard of five people being shot and killed in the same day in the south end.
DeleteThank you so much for this post. Being in Tacoma I was a little bit away from the events, but I too, like so many of us, paid attention to the news. It's such a tragedy when we find in we hear things like this. Such useless violence, such wasted efforts. I really like the story you posted on, and I took the time to read that news stories well. I was inspired by this man's ability to leave behind a purse tedious job to pursue what he loved, creating bread with his hands. You are absolutely right, we must learn to appreciate the small things in life, the good things in life. Life is, generally, unpredictable. It is also uncontrollable. It is these moments, and the people we bring to our life, that brings life meaning. Rebecca
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