Monday Sayings: RIP: Pray for Orlando

It's been a little more than a week since the tragic shootings in Orlando.

The shooting and killing of YouTuber/The Voice singer Christina Grimmie on June 10 in Orlando and then the massacre on June 11 in a Orlando nightclub called Pulse.

I'm sure you've heard of it. The deadliest massacre to date in the United States.

It still pains my heart knowing this happened. How can you take the life of another? What makes you think you're the Man up above to determine who gets to go and who doesn't?

Like many others, I wanted to dedicate a quick post acknowledging who the 49 innocent victims, now angels, were:

Edward Sotomayor Jr., 34
Stanley Almodovar III, 23
Luis Omar Ocasio-Capo, 20
Juan Ramon Guerrero, 22
Eric Ivan Ortiz-Rivera, 36
Peter O. Gonzalez-Cruz, 22
Luis S. Vielma, 22
Kimberly Morris, 37
Eddie Jamoldroy Justice, 30
Darryl Roman Burt II, 29, of Jacksonville
Deonka Deidra Drayton, 32
Alejandro Barrios Martinez, 21
Anthony Luis Laureanodisla, 25
Jean Carlos Mendez Perez, 35
Franky Jimmy Dejesus Velazquez, 50
Amanda Alvear, 25
Martin Benitez Torres, 33
Luis Daniel Wilson-Leon, 37
Mercedez Marisol Flores, 26
Xavier Emmanuel Serrano Rosado, 35
Gilberto Ramon Silva Menendez, 25
Simon Adrian Carrillo Fernandez, 31
Oscar A Aracena-Montero, 26
Enrique L. Rios Jr., 25
Miguel Angel Honorato, 30
Javier Jorge-Reyes, 40
Luis Daniel Conde, 39
Shane Evan Tomlinson, 33
Juan Chevez-Martinez, 25
Joel Rayon Paniagua, 32
Jason Benjamin Josaphat, 19
Cory James Connell, 21
Juan P. Rivera Velazquez, 37
Jerald Arthur Wright, 31
Leroy Valentin Fernandez, 25
Tevin Eugene Crosby, 25
Jonathan Antonio Camuy Vega, 24
Jean C. Nives Rodriguez, 27
Rodolfo Ayala-Ayala, 33
Brenda Lee Marquez McColl, 49
Yilmary Rodriguez Solivan, 24
Christopher Andrew Leinonen, 32
Angel L. Candelario-Padro, 28
Frank Hernandez, 27
Paul Terrell Henry, 41
Antonio Davon Brown, 29
Christopher Joseph Sanfeliz, 24
Akyra Monet Murray, 18
Geraldo A. Ortiz-Jimenez, 25

And Christina Grimmie, 22 who was shot the night before also in Orlando.

May you all rest in peace.

May your loved ones find peace, solace, and strength during this time.

May America unite and move forward together in love and compassion, not hate and division.

May our world one day know peace, love, and acceptance.

Xoxoxo

RIP: Shine Bright, Star light

Last Monday 4/25/16, I received heart wrenching, stomach-turning, I-almost-fainted news.

One of my sorority sisters had taken her life the night before.

My heart sank.

My first thoughts, "What. Oh my gosh. Oh Jamie. Oh no, Jamie."

I asked my friend if there was anything that she knew of that Jamie was going through. She told me Jamie was struggling with bipolar disorder.

A flood of memories just kept going through my heart, through my head, through my soul.

Sadness - a beautiful soul gone from this world.

Anger - how could you do this to yourself? Be so selfish.

Anger - at the system. The mental health system continues to fail the people we love

Empathy - I shouldn't be angry. Jamie was clearly going through an inner turmoil that no one can ever truly understand. This was her peace.

Sadness - that this happened. That I wasn't there to know or even help her.

She was a beautiful soul. We were close in college but soon after graduation, she moved to Kansas and then different places throughout the Midwest. We all moved on with our lives, but stayed in contact. She came every 1 - 2 years since she moved away and every time she came back, it was as though nothing has changed.

She smiled a lot. She laughed a lot. She was supportive. She challenged you. She was a burst of energy. She brought out the best in you because she always saw the best in you. She was my dance partner, my thiz face, hyphy sistahhh.

I loved her voice. It was unique, but it was Jamie and it was beautiful. She was beautiful. She was gigantically tall and worked it. She had the fairest complexion that she shone so bright. She was proudly "ghetto" and often said, "I'm the most ghetto white girl you've ever met."

Her life growing up was not easy. She is the true epitome of working hard. She went from living in a trailer to UCLA graduate to pre-med student. She worked her ass off, always working multiple jobs to support herself, did so ever since she was a young teenager.

No one had anything bad to say about her. Nothing.

Rest in paradise my beautiful friend.

I am too lucky and so grateful to have met you.

You forever hold a dear place in my heart and in my memories.

Shine bright, star light

I know you're watching over us

xoxoxox 

"I will never understand that out of all the people in this world, you thought you had to be the one to go"