At Home In The Townhouse

Today is September 18, 2019, a Tuesday.  I am sitting on my double-lounger in my new living room.  My lovely bride and I have considered ourselves (potential) nomads for many years, and we did move a few times, to be sure.  But during the past couple of years or so, things have happened that have cemented us to this area, at least for the foreseeable future.  With the birth of our first grandchild, then my lovely bride’s new career, then the birth of a second grandchild, it became obvious that we were HERE.  I began searching for a home closer to my wife’s work location and closer to the grandchildren as well.

During the middle of August we found a townhome that we fell in love with immediately.  I was surprised that I would find a townhome appealing in any way, but this one just felt like home as soon as we walked in.  My lovely bride felt the same.  We made an offer on this home, and finally closed on September 4^th.   After closing the deal, we started moving in, just a few boxes at a time.  Then my lovely bride declared that it was time to “move in.” 

We spent our first “official” night in the townhouse on September 12^th, having moved everything except the large furniture.  We were buying new appliances for the home so that helped lighten the load.  But for the first few days we really roughed it, having no washer or dryer in the house, or even a refrigerator.  But all the roughing was smoothed by being so close to the grandchildren.  They could now visit us almost every day, instead of the nearly hour round trip from the dojo in Odessa to our old house in Midland, then the same trip when it was time to take the babies home.  Another advantage, for an oldster like myself, there is basically no yardwork.  The front is maintained by the homeowner’s association contractor.  The patio is maintained by me and my rocking chair.

Then came the day it was time to move the BIG STUFF…the double lounger and the sleeper sofa.  This was a lot of backbreaking, heavy work.  Fortunately, I missed all that.  I was safely at work.  Child A, Child B, and Child B’s husband did the heavy stuff.  When I arrived home, my beloved lounger was in place, and I didn’t have to do anything except sit down, lay back, and offer my gratitude to those who did the real work.

Not to worry.  I was not spared totally from the pain.  I had moved several truckloads of boxes over the past few days, both loading and unloading.  And I helped with the painting (yes, the house had to be painted – the new paint throughout the house was all the wrong colors, according to my lovely bride).  My wife has a great eye for detail, and a great imagination, thus she was able to visualize what the townhouse would look like with various new colors, wallpaper, back splash (?), tile, rugs, etc.  Now, just these few days later the townhouse would not be recognizable to the previous owner.  And we are not roughing it quite as much.  We now have a washer and dryer, and the Internet!  We are  really living!  The fridge is still a few days away, and a new dining table will arrive after that.  We are almost back in civilization!

My lovely bride and I have been truly blessed.  We have beautiful children, beautiful grandchildren, and now this beautiful townhouse.  In the process, Child A gained a “new home” as well, that is, his parents no longer live in his home.  I am sure he is pretty excited about that.  But he has promised to dine with us at least one evening per week.  As much as he likes his mother’s cooking, I suspect we will see him more often. 

God is good.

Midland/Odessa Mass Shooting

Another mass shooting.  Another mass shooting in TEXAS.  Another mass shooting in WEST TEXAS.  Just a few weeks ago in El Paso.  Not to mention all the other ones that taken place across the nation in the past few months.

Just a couple of days after the El Paso mass shooting, I was talking with a co-worker who told me that she was now afraid to go ANYWHERE.  Then she said, almost prophetically, "it could even happen here (Midland, TX)."  This lady went on to say that she was worried about her grandchildren every time they left the house, afraid to go to the mall, to any public event, and even to church.  I know that many other people feel the same way.  If I go out in public, will I walk into the gun sight of some angry sniper?  Can the police protect me?  Will this be the last time I see my loved ones?  Do many people ask these questions every time they leave the house?

So this past Saturday I was at home playing with the grandchildren, enjoying the company of my lovely bride and my son.  I had just talked with my mom.  I told her how great a day we were having.  We talked awhile then said our good-byes and ended the conversation.  Minutes later, around 3:40 PM, I received a call from one of my employees who told me that the hospital was under general lock down and the disaster plan had been activated.  All hospital personnel who were not actually on duty were summoned for an emergency involving multiple casualties.  Even as I hurriedly dressed for work, the news app on my phone alerted me that a mass shooting was in progress and the active shooter had not yet been located by police.  In fact, the police at this point believed there could be two or more shooters.  I raced out the door to my vehicle.  As I drove into town I wondered if the shooter might be somewhere between me and the hospital.  And I also thought, it is finally happening here!  Another mass shooting, here in my own town!

Although I cannot publish here what went on at the hospital, those of us who were called in during the emergency remained for several hours. Finally, a news alert over my telephone stated that a shooter was dead, several people were injured, including three officers, and that at least five people were dead.  Soon the news service stated that twenty or more people were injured or dead.  Shortly after that announcement, all employees who had responded to the emergency were released to go on their way.  I, and my fellow workers, had no idea if any of our friends or relatives were numbered among the injured or dead. And the thought with me must have been with the others: It happened here...it happened in my town.

I drove slowly toward home, under the speed limit, deep in thought, and probably annoying someone behind me.  Another mass shooting.  Another mass shooting in Texas.  Another mass shooting in West Texas.  The sister cities, Midland and Odessa, were still praying for the people of El Paso, had only recently sent aid to the citizens there.  Now the same thing had happened here.  People were hurting.  People were dead.  And there was that nagging fear in my heart that, it happened here finally, but was it really over?  Did the police really catch the one and only shooter?  At one point it had been believed, at least by the public, that there could be more than one shooter.  Later, the Police Chief of Odessa put a rather practical spin on it when he said that, while it was possible there was more than one shooter, no one else was shot after THE suspect was killed by police.

Now, over twenty-four hours after this tragedy, the identity of the shooter was revealed by the police.  I refuse to place his name here, but will only refer to him as the shooter, although the Odessa Police Chief phrased it better when he called the shooter an animal.  As with the last couple of mass shooters, this shooter/animal, whatever his beliefs/problems were, chose to inflict pain on others rather than either seeking help for himself, or failing that, putting himself out of his own misery without inflicting death, pain, and terror on others.

Yesterday, shortly after this attack occurred, I saw posted on Facebook these words:

You have looked in no person's eyes today who was not a child of God.

I know that is true, but I have to wonder how a child of God becomes so misguided as to carry out the carnage brought to bear on the people of the Permian Basin yesterday.  The police have not revealed the shooter's suspected motive yet, and I don't really care what his motive was.  Will knowing his, the shooter's, motive somehow make this crime easier for the survivors, the bereaved loved ones, those whose relatives are in the hospital, to accept?  Will it bring "closure?"  No to both of those.  I am sure the motive will be pretty much the same as the other shooters' motives.  The shooter was angry about something, he had been mistreated as a child, he felt the government was oppressing him, or fill in the repetitive blank.  The fact is that another mass shooting/mass murder was committed.  I cannot fathom in my mind what it is that allows a person to feel he has the right to kill others because of his own misfortune, or even just because he is a barbaric brute.  And we never know when another shooter will repeat this act in another city.  It even happen in Midland or Odessa again.



PS: 

The quick action of the police, and calls of citizens along the shooter's route, helped keep the casualties from being even higher.


May the Good Shepherd comfort all those who are hurting because of this tragedy, may He walk along with those who lost loved ones, and may He carry those who are too weak to walk on their own in the coming days..