*This is a work of nonfiction that was witnessed or experienced by myself and others. Everything you read has been written with permission and based on real life situations.
This has been such a challenging few years for so many… those I know personally and many that I have never met. The violence and death needs to stop. We seem to be living in a world so opposite from the one that I was raised in. Back in the day, you threw fists then shook hands. Whether a friendship developed after that didn’t even matter… respect was earned on both sides. Has the time come where I can really say I’m that old… should it matter…
Tonight, there was another death in Harrisburg. I’ve lost count at this point and that is heartbreaking. This one occurred a couple blocks from my nephew’s house. While he was safe in his own home (tucking his children into bed) another family was preparing for the worst news. When does it stop… when is enough finally enough… when are we done killing each other…
Put the guns down. Put the knives down. Just stop… PLEASE. I’m not going to sit here and preach that we all need to get along. It’s really a whole lot more simple than that. In all reality it boils down to respect… respect yourself as a member of society. I am talking about the respect every one of your mothers deserve… your fathers, brothers and sisters. It all boils down to respect for LIFE… the life that God intended each of us to live… whichever God it is you each believe in… it’s about LIFE and living it… not being robbed from it…
I’m so over the pointless death count. I’m over the tears being shed in a community that should be holding each other up. I’m over the devastation of families.
When I was growing up, Harrisburg was Harrisburg. I have lived in both midtown and uptown. My husband was raised in south side and spent most of his life uptown after that. It seems we were both raised in a different era… there’s so many parents right now that understand exactly where I’m coming from. We shouldn’t be burying our children and grandchildren… my heart hurts. When does it stop… when is enough finally enough…
Social media is both the good and the bad. It allows us to follow along with our family and friends… it keeps us connected at the times we can’t physically be there. It’s simply another tool to use in the modern world we live in. Unfortunately, it’s also the tool that spreads hatred and escalates our most violent or weakest moments…
I pray for peace… I pray for the city that raised me to heal. I just pray.
Harrisburg is not the horrible city so many make it out to be. Harrisburg is beautiful. While my heart hurts right now, it doesn’t define what the capital city of Pennsylvania is. We just need to do better for ourselves… for our neighborhoods… for our children and grandchildren. We need to stick together and save lives… instead of stealing them. Enough blood has been shed. Enough blood has been shed. I can say it a thousand times over (and I will) until ya’ll get it. Death is permanent. Death is forever. Death is final…
I am so over saying good-bye to those who should have never been stolen from this world. None of us have been put on this earth to be a judge and jury… none of us have that right to steal the last breath from another living being. It’s really that simple. Sometimes, simple isn’t what many people understand. That’s why my heart hurts…
If you enjoyed reading about the insights into our Pennsylvania communities and would like to contribute towards the work of this struggling writer, feel free to buy me a cup of coffee. Everything raised goes directly to our homeless outreach fund. Thank you for reading and I hope each of you have a blessed day.
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