Yesterday I was finishing my last email before the end of my workday. I had plans to head off to Duke Fitness Center for a workout, pool then the sauna. I heard what I thought was kids getting off the bus, but I wasn't really paying attention... lost in a scheduling a scheduling question and meeting minutes. As I am signing off for the day, I hear more yelling, this time it sounds angrier, adult, swear words and... something smashing....I peak over my computer screen, looking out of my 1st floor sliding glass door into the parking lot. A woman is starting to yell at someone then...
BANG! BANG...BANG! BANG! BANG!
Someone running...a car door slamming then the car pealing out of the parking lot.
I'm frozen...bullets aimed at a car 8 feet in front of my window, into a parking lot where the school bus stops, where my car is usually parked. (That day I had parked under the tree on the other side to stay cool.)
As I reach for my phone, but police sirens are already pulling into the apartment complex. I open a door to peak around the corner of the walkway. I see a woman on her phone, holding a gun...yelling at a neighbor that "he was trying to f#$% me up!" then she lays her gun down on the ground. Three police cars, six officers, crime tape...I give a statement to Officer Rivera who said they got dozens of calls.
I stand on the other side of the parking lot with some neighbors and the 2 construction workers who saw everything from where they were repairing the fire damage from the building next to mine. I get a run-down about what happened....a fight between a couple that started in the parking lot, moved to their apartment, then the guy smashing stuff into the apartment then running into the parking lot and smashing the window of her car. She followed him to the walkway with a gun and starting shooting when he smashed her window.
After the officers tell us to go back to our apartments where I randomly start reorganizing my kitchen for the next hour until I can't stand to be there. I head to the fitness center and try to exercise out my nerves. Nicole and Josh offer for me to stop by but I didn't want to bring that energy into their home...I always want my kids' homes to be a haven for them.
I got back to my apartment complex and sat in my car, watching the maintenance guy patch the bullet hole in the outside wall of my apartment's chimney before I went in. Unfortunately, this is not the first time I have encountered a violent threat, but those are stories for another time.
Though I was only frozen for a few seconds, my brain began a slideshow of pictures of all the people I love.... like my grandparents' old slide carousel for their projector on overdrive. I saw Nicole and Josh with Sofia and Nora on the beach; Scott standing behind Jenna holding Spike with his arm around her on their skiing trip with their big grins; my friends Ada and Nathan on their recent wedding day; Meaghan and Dylan holding their baby boy Henri and Charlie standing guard; my sister with her family; Kelly and Sierra announcing their engagement; Zach getting his first blackbelt; my book club on zoom; my bunco babes; Wendy and Bob with their girls' families; Frank and Julie; Jaime, Abe and Scarlett; Lacey in her graduation gown; Addison just being her goofy self; Donna and Ed on their wedding day; Chris and George with Schroder and Fiona; my Gratitude retreat buddies, Teri and Janine; Bill, Tracy, Sam, Meaghan, Joan, Patty, Don...and so many more....
Do you know how much I love you? Have I told you often enough? Do you know how grateful I am that you are in my life?
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