Saturday night we had a barbeque. Everyone sat around laughing, talking, and enjoying themselves in the cool of the evening. My nephew pranced about enchanting guests and making us laugh with his charm and many facial expressions. I later went to bed feeling peaceful. The windows weren't vibrating from the frequently blaring Mariachi music and our bamboo in the back was gently rustling in the breeze.

Several hours later I awoke sharply to the sound of about 15 gunshots cracking into the night air. My eyes snapped open and I could feel myself growing anxious. We often hear gunshots in the evening or at night, but I had never heard so many at once. Following the shooting noise was the sound of cop cars, ambulances and an extremely loud fire truck howling as it raced up the street. I no longer felt peaceful. The sounds were so close.

My sister emailed me today that the one person killed in that shooting up the street was one of her clients. Apparently he was nearly unrecognizable. On Friday she said he spoke of his excitement about exiting the program. He spoke of getting his own place and becoming independent. In the early morning hours of Sunday, he died.

Her news shocked me into a place of simple confusion. A guy dies alone one night in the street and you hear it. It sounds like some eastern proverb like the butterfly effect or the tree falling in a forest..... Does it have any meaning? For her, of course. But for me?

That’s all.