Our thoughts and prayer go out to all victims of the senseless shooting inside a Colorado movie theater early this morning.
But we take this time to recognize Jessica Ghawi, a 24-year old aspiring sportscaster who lost her life in the attack, because her tragic story is almost impossible to believe.
Ghawi, who wrote a blog under the name Jessica Redfield, posted a recent entry in which she detailed just how fortunate she had been to narrowly escape a fatal mall shooting in Toronto last month that left one person dead and seven injured.
"What started off as a trip to the mall to get sushi and shop, ended up as a day that has forever changed my life," Ghawi wrote, explaining how a last-second decision to eat a different meal for dinner caused her to escape - by minutes - the gunman who opened fire in the food court she had planned to be in.
"I was shown how fragile life was on Saturday," Ghawi added. "I saw the terror on bystanders' faces. I saw the victims of a senseless crime. I saw lives change. I was reminded that we don't know when or where our time on Earth will end. When or where we will breathe our last breath. For one man, it was in the middle of a busy food court on a Saturday evening."
Tragically, incredibly, Ghawi ended up as one of the dozen people today who experienced the same tragic fate as that man in Toronto.
We honor the memory her Jessica and the others who passed away with these words from her blog entry:
"I say all the time that every moment we have to live our life is a blessing. So often I have found myself taking it for granted. Every hug from a family member. Every laugh we share with friends. Even the times of solitude are all blessings. Every second of every day is a gift."
