Broken Hearts & Dreams

I think it was near 615am when I finally rolled out of bed, brushed my teeth, gathered my running clothes, then headed downstairs. I was really glad that it was Friday. For some reason the work week had already taken its toll on my energy & motivation. Downstairs, after slipping into my exercise shoes, I opened the deck door to check out the morning's weather. It was another cool, wet, and cloudy start.

Right away, I whipped out 50 sit-ups then 40 windmills. I took a minute to catch my breath then stretched my back ahead of doing 50 push-ups. It was 628am when I went to pour Mindy's coffee. Whoops! Nothing but hot water in the carafe. I'd forgotten to put coffee in the coffee maker. I thought about heading upstairs to tell Mindy but opted not. Instead, I poured the hot water back into the maker's reservoir then loaded the filter with fresh coffee then hit the go button.

I played on my computer for a few minutes while waiting on the coffee to brew. I checked the forecast, which was calling for rain and falling temps. At the time it was near 50 degrees. It took only about 5 minutes to brew. I poured Mindy a cup even before it beeped. Jacob was downstairs making his breakfast before I headed upstairs around 636am. By then, Mindy was already out of bed and preparing for a shower. I sat her coffee on the dresser then turned to head back downstairs. Mindy came out of the closet seeking a quick hug. I was back downstairs to make a cup for myself by 640am.

Again, very thankful that it was Friday, I sat down at my desk, sipped coffee, and played on my PC for a while. Around 7am I logged into my work laptop and then started a report I run almost every Friday. This week's report took a little bit longer than usual due to a larger than normal data sample. I was fussing with the report when Mindy came downstairs which wasn't before 715am. Just prior, she gave a shout out to Bella to wake up. I think she got up on the second call out which is pretty much the norm.

And just like she does most other morning's, she hollered down asking Mindy what the day's high and low was expected to be. It always makes me laugh. Mindy left near her usual time of 730am. I spent the next 25 minutes working on that report while also letting some tunes rip from my PC. Helped elevate my mood.

No problems getting Bella ready and out the door by 755am. The pug went with, this her first sniff of morning air. I planned to walk her after the bus picked up Bella. It was raining ever so lightly when we headed out the door but it picked up considerably once we were at the bus stop. I really should've taken the umbrella along. Kenny was out with Makayla, which doesn't happen a whole lot these days. He looked a bit disheveled. I asked where Chrissy was, and was a bit taken back by his answer. He shared that she was in the hospital after having severe migraines and then numbness in her left foot. Oh no! Said they kept her overnight and planned to do an MRI sometime that morning. Offered any help necessary before we parted ways.

The pug and I did our normal walk across the street before heading home. Back at the house, I got a text from Mindy. I found it unusual to get a text at that hour. She shared that her school was in lock down due to a shooting in the area. Asked me to check the news and let her know. I quickly scoured the local news web sites then called her cell. She answered quickly. At the time there wasn't anything online at the time. We talked for about 5 minutes with me promising to share anything once I knew something.

It wasn't too much longer before news broke about a shooting in Grove City. Apparently a young boy was shot. The details were sketchy but they went on to share that the shooter then drove out near Eastland mall and shot another person at a dentist's office. They had the make and color of his car as well as the license plate numbers. I made a mental note then typed myself an email with the tag number. I sent Mindy a text sharing what I learned then headed out for a run. It was raining lightly when I left the house but came down a bit heavier during the run. I really didn't mind though. I ran just three miles, which has pretty much become the norm on Friday's.

By the time I was back from my run the Grove City shooting was all over the TV new coverage. All four channels were covering the developing story live. By 11am the then the gunman had been found up by Easton at Wal-Mart and was in a shoot out with the CPD. At the time, the story was still a little sketchy but soon they revealed that he had been shot. And then, about an hour later, it was learned that he was shot dead. Meanwhile, the connections in the two shootings was still a bit of a mystery but he news teams stayed on air sharing bits and pieces as the story developed.

From what I gathered from the TV news coverage, it sounded to me like the 9 year old boy that was shot was a student of another Grove City elementary school just up the road from Mindy's. In fact, the home where he was shot was less than a block from another elementary school. Mindy, however, soon shared via text that she believed it was a kid from her school. She was basing her beliefs on the fact that all of the district's administrators and crisis intervention team were present and huddling in the principal's office. As you might guess, with all of that going on, it was difficult for me to focus on work. I couldn't imagine how Mindy and her cohorts were coping with it at school.

While all of that was going on, David and I were communicating via text, too. He was still at Chataloochee ski resort in N.C. I went out to their webcam then asked him to find the slush spot visible from the webcam and then do his pose so I could find him/ see him. It's a quasi live shot that updates every 30 seconds. There he was, initially about 300' away, but the pose undeniably him. I asked him to move closer to the camera guiding him in. The next refresh he was about as close as he could get while remaining in the frame. I captured a screen shot then converted it to a jpeg and saved it. I sent it to him on his phone. How cool is that?

The rest of the work day was a bit of a blur. I finally got a shower around 2pm, or about a half hour before Jacob got home. I talked with my boss midafternoon in hopes of nailing down how we might handle Black Friday. I offered to cover the day and take Wednesday as my holiday instead. After a short discussion that's what I am going to do.

Mindy called around 330pm still a wreck from the day's events. She had more details than what was available to the TV news. Per Mindy, the young boy that was shot was indeed from her school and wasn't expected to make it. In fact, he was said to be brain dead but on life support. The family planned to pull life support either that night or over the weekend. How terrible is that? She told me that she wanted to go to the hospital that evening with some other school peeps.

Bella was home shortly before Mindy. Both were home by 4pm. Mindy came in giving out hugs and then shared the tragic story with the kids. After getting her composure she freshened up then left for the hospital. My job was to see the kids off with Jimaken whenever he arrived, which I figured would be somewhere close to 5pm. Actually, though, he showed up a little early, getting to our house by 445pm. At the time Jacob was off playing basketball and Bella was still playing in her room. I sent Jacob a text then whistled out the back door. He came home shortly after Bella returned from walking Eiknarf. They left with Jimaken a few minutes later.

I was home alone for an hour or so. During that time I played on the internet and listened to music. Mindy got home around 615pm. We didn't waste too much time then getting ready for an evening at Barley's. We left the house in the Accord at 630pm. During our drive, Mindy shared how the hospital visit went. Very sad. Not sure how she managed to hold it together.

We got a parking spot in the front row, which is very rare. The lot was otherwise full. Someone must've vacated the spot just prior to us pulling in. Initially, there was standing room only in the bar, but soon enough a couple stools freed up thanks to a couple Barley peeps just on their way out. Mindy sat down while I chose to stand. I'd been sitting almost all day. I ordered a Seventh Son IPA. Mindy went with an Edmund Fitzgerald. I ended up talking with Rick C. while conversed with a couple folks sitting next to her at the bar. Rick and I spent most of our conversation talking about JFK, given that this was the 50th anniversary of his assassination. Many there were surprised that I could remember the day, but I was 4 then and remember bits and pieces fairly well.

While sitting at the bar, Mindy enjoyed a basket of fries, and then after her beer was gone, she ordered some chocolate mousse. I had three beers in all, the last two Centennials, or at least that's what I ordered. However, I think they may have slipped me a Galaxy 500 IPA instead. We didn't stay too late. Mindy was still a little shell shocked from her crazy school day. I'm thinking it was before 9am when we headed for home.

Once at home, I poured myself a Great Lakes Xmas ale. Not sure if it's from '111 or '12. Still tastes just fine. We didn't stay up too late whatsoever. Mindy wanted to head to bed by 10pm. I was tired too so we called it a Friday night early. Peace be with you, Jaiden.