Colorado's Fall From Grace

Century Theaters- Aurora Colorado- AP photo

What's happening to Colorado?  When the pope was here in the 1990's his comment was "Colorado is God's Country..."  Lately, it is looking like it is the devil's domain.

We just got through horrific fires wrapping around northern Colorado.  Then, we dealt with Columbine massacre, JonBenet Ramsey tragedy, the dubious syringe-happy oral surgeon- and now, another massacre at the Aurora suburb's Century theater. 12 Dead in Colorado Shooting

My children grew up going to those theaters.  I had nothing but fond memories of living in Aurora when I first moved here in 1991, from Miami Beach, Florida.  I thought of Colorado as Shangrila.

There is tragedy everywhere in the world, but why Colorado?  The most heinous crimes.  Seems we corner the market on tragedies these days.

I remember leaving South Florida because I thought it too transient, it didn't attract a 'family' loving type of crowd.  I thought of John Denver and the rockies as one step away from heaven.

JonBenet Ramsey Shampop.com

How things change.

 I was looking over a website for JonBenet Ramsey, and that heavy feeling came over me again.  This angelic child, never got to live her life.  The site depcits the actual crime scene photos- which were hard to look at- even after all these years.  People have marred the website by littering it with pornographic images. Pathetic, I say. JonBenet Ramsey Images 

Perhaps everything Nostradamus predicted is coming true.  It may very well be the end of the world.  I was not going to write about this latest incident, but I couldn't stop reflecting on Colorado's morbid history the last couple of decades.

Could this just be coincidence?  After 9/11,  I can believe anything is possible. The easy thing to do is to bury our heads.  As Americans, we owe more to our country.

Personally, I believe you can teach your children until you're red in the face.  No one can determine how they're going to turn out as adults.  This kid was studying to get a Ph.D no less.  I deliberately don't want to mention his name.  Why should he get credit for anything but a senseless tragedy.

The worst part, this theater was full of young adults and children.  What did they do to deserve this?

You can't second guess anything, because all bets are off on what it takes to raise "good" children.  Sometimes, it is difficult to see any signs of instability in people.  That is, unless you have a trained eye.

I can't do much, but I can pray for the people and families that innocently sat in that theater this morning.  The same theater my children sat in twenty years ago.