“You can tell the difference between fireworks and gunshots?!” exclaimed a co-worker. “Oh yeah,” my husband and I said in unison.
Happy 2012! I predict that it is going to be a year of change . . . and I am surprisingly okay with that. 2011 finished on a somewhat depressing and stressful note (not to be a Debbie Downer).
Back in June 2011 a stray bullet entered our home while my family sat at the dining room table eating lunch. This tragic event led us to, even more than ever, move forward with an exit plan out of north Minneapolis. It no longer felt like we were safe in our own home.
Just a week and a half ago, another tragedy struck just a block away from us. A stray bullet entered a home, hitting a three year old boy in the head. He was walking up the stairs with his dinner in hand to go hide in a closet, a closet he was instructed to go to when he heard gunshots. Not only is this event saddening, but it is infuriating as well. Three year olds should not be killed by stray bullets, no one should be, but especially children.
Several nights ago, someone lit our garbage receptacles on fire. Massive flames engulfed three out of the four sitting in our off street parking. And later that night/early the next morning, I witnessed a house across the alley getting robbed. What the hell is going on?! I don’t really have the words at the moment to describe what I feel about these acts of crime or the people who commit them.
2012 was rung in by me going to bed at 10:30pm. (I know, I am such a party animal!). I was awake though at midnight as fireworks rung out in on our streets. In addition to the five to ten minute displays, amidst the crackling, were several gunshots that were near and far. At that moment, I wondered if I should move to another area of the house. Should I grab the kids and go hide in a central area? Should we have a plan of action for when we hear guns fired? Should I walk my four year old through a scenario of what to do if . . .? And then I felt defeated and hopeless and saddened by having to think such things.
As we discern our next steps and be led by peace to our new home, I want to try to hope more and fear less. I hope for no stray bullets entering homes. I hope for less shootings, and less crime in general. I hope for families to be able to get the resources they need to help break cycles of poverty. I hope for freedom for my family. I hope for restoration in north Minneapolis.
