Last night while we were sleeping in our beds 8 miles away, a gunman opened fire from the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay into a concert crowd of 22,000 people below him.
He killed 59 people and wounded almost 530 more.
Unbelievable.
So horrible. Too horrible and unbelievable for words.
When my alarm went off at 6 this morning, there were two texts on my phone. One from my husband at 3 a.m. telling me to look at the news when I woke up and one from Trina asking if I was okay. I knew something terrible must have happened and was afraid to check. I went and woke up KJ and then went back in my room to read the news, shaking and shedding a few tears of shock as I read. It's horrible to read this happening ever, but for it to happen in your city is heartbreakingly different.
I talked briefly, gently, but honestly with KJ and spoke in very generals with few specifics, as advised, with the girls, knowing there would be talk at school but letting them all know we are safe and sound but that there are a lot of people that need help right now.
It's uncomfortable to get an automated call from the school district explaining how the school day will be handled in the face of a mass shooting (regular day but all absences excused, grief counselors available, and no after school activities). It's uncomfortable to drive to school with no radio because your kids don't need to hear the news, and then drive home with tears in your eyes listening to your favorite morning dj's trying desperately to comfort and talk a city through the unimaginable. It's weird to have Facebook request that you make a safety check-in because you're in a disaster zone and friends are worried. It's overwhelming to spend the morning looking desperately for ways to help because the crisis is RIGHT HERE. And it is incredibly hopeful and inspiring to see a city rise up and replace a river of horror with a flood of good.
This morning the air felt so weird to me, heavy and sick. It reminded me a little of the morning of September 11th. I wondered if that was just in my head or real. I think it was an actual thing, a cloud or a pall over the city. But by tonight, seeing and feeling everybody working so hard to help in big and small ways, it felt like that feeling is being replaced with something much more positive, and much more hopeful.
Blood donations are desperately needed and so many people have responded that they are making reservations for next week. Food and supplies are being shared and delivered, money is being donated.
We found a little small way for our family to help -- the Ronald McDonald house made a call for help for supplies to make lunch sacks for families in the hospital, because they couldn't keep up with the demand.
So we took the kids to the business center and they helped us pick items from the list that they would like to donate. A very small thing, very small, but a way for us to serve, which we are desperate to do.
And then we dropped it off and it was so inspiring to see the huge line of cars there to respond to the need. We pulled into line and then many more were pulling in behind us. A constant stream of cars. So awesome!
Sadly, we also saw some volunteers learn right in front of us that someone they loved was killed in the shooting. That was very, very sad to witness their shock and sorrow and try to honor their privacy.
We will focus on the hope, and focus on the amazing good coming from this. The Double B told the kids that when something really bad happens, that's when it's most important to do things that are good. What that man did was a great evil, we HAVE to fight that with something infinitely more powerful -- great good. Seeing thousands and thousands of people reaching out to help in any way they can is exactly the ointment our city and our hearts needs right now.
I don't know what the next few days, weeks, and months will look like in Las Vegas, and certainly this tragedy is a reminder of many things. But we will keep our eyes open and our ears to the ground for any way that we can make the burden lighter. We truly do love Nevada and we love our Las Vegas home.
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