Written/Spoken into phone - May 13th, 2017 - 12:45 pm to 12:50 pm
Edited - May 17th, 2017 - 1:51 pm to 2:17 pm
Edited - June 15th, 2017 - 3:15 pm to 3:31 pm
I Don't Get It, It's Just A word
I remember shortly after November 3rd, it might have been within days talking, to my mother about the word shootout. Because the word shootout was used in the newspaper to describe what happened on November 3rd.
I remember talking with my mother, I think it was in her study. I told her, "I don't get it, it's just a word" referring to the word shootout. "I don't understand," I told my mother. "I don't understand why the word shootout is a big deal", referring to responses that I saw from my mother and others around me.
I think my reaction was related to my mother and other people's reactions to that word.
But my mother explained to me that the word shootout implied people getting together on purpose, intentionally and somewhat equally. And what happened on November 3rd was far from that because we were attacked.
So I understood a little better after I talked to my mother. I understood that a little bit more from her perspective and other people's perspectives.
One of the many things that I've learned from November 3rd is that even when you're part of something or in the middle of something we only have a part or piece of the picture. And I've learned since then that there's a big picture and everybody only has parts. But every part is significant in the context of the whole. And in order to reclaim our whole, we need everybody to connect all the pieces to the whole in order to reclaim our complete humanity.