Tragedies.

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The details of Mondays shooting in Chardon, Ohio are still being gathered, but the pain and the grieving have already begun.

Chardon, Ohio is a the closest thing we got to a “city” in Geauga County, where I grew up. In Burton — where I’m from — we had no stoplights; no grocery stores; nada. But Chardon? A measly 10-minutes from home? BIG city. They had a grocery store AND a Fashion Bug. So a city Chardon was.It was the closest city we had growing up.

We spent a lot of time there. And built relationships and friendships with people in Chardon High School.

We were visiting cheerleaders and athletes on their football field; we sat next to each other at church; we were friends.

I am sad for the children who will now be afraid; I’m grieving for a community that has lost its innocence in a very public way; I’m sad for the families of all who were injured; I’m grieving with the families who now know the empty feeling of losing a loved one at the hand of someone else’s weapon; and I’m sad for the family of the boy who caused this tragedy. For they too know the feeling of loss, pain, and humiliation by someone else.

I’ve talked about this before on this blog, and I know in this case it’s very soon after a terrible tragedy; but please keep in mind that all of us are human; all of us grieve; all of us feeling anger and hurt. And, I agree, this boy deserves no good graces from anyone. But his family does. You may not know it, but they do. And their lives will go on like the rest of us. They will carry this around with them forever.

As a granddaughter of a man taken at someone elses hand — and gun — I can say this:

It will be difficult; it will leave you with a void that few have the torment of understanding; the nightmares will haunt you; and, if you’re like me, the anxiety of knowing that life is short may at times bring you paralyzing fear; but it gets better. Nothing will be perfect again; but you’ll find a way to face each day and forgive a little more.