Yesterday was a tragic news day in my area and as stupid as it is, it all has me kind of freaked out and afraid to leave the house. Of course that's not really an option, so having to leave the house anyway and deal with massive anxiety. I feel so stupid.
The back story:
I grew up in a small town that is a suburb of a college town. I currently live in a suburb of a major city that is about two hours away from where I grew up. Neither of these areas are high crime kind of areas.
Early yesterday morning there was a news story unfolding from the area I grew up in. A woman was found stabbed to death in the parking garage of one of the hospitals. Schools near the hospital were put into lockdown but there were also schools out near the small town near where I grew up that went into lockdown. It took time for the story to unfold and information came out throughout the day. The woman's estranged husband had waited for her in the parking garage when/where she was arriving for work. He stabbed her and fled. They have children in the schools out in the small town and those schools were locked down because there was a fear that he might come there. He did not. He drove to a different city and was found later in the afternoon after having committed suicide. These kinds of things just don't happen in that area. It was a big news story but as is usually the case not all of the details were immediately available. We found out things a little at a time throughout the day. I still have a lot of family and friends that live there so I was following the story throughout the day to learn what was going on and make sure that no one I knew or cared about was hurt in any way.
Yesterday afternoon in the suburb where I currently live, a man shot another man inside of a movie theater because of a dispute about texting (during previews, before movie had actually started). The shooter was a retired police officer. The man he killed was a husband and a father of a young child. Again, this was a case of following the news as the story unfolded. We're still learning details even today. Our small little community is the talk of national news.
No one that I know directly was involved in either of these events. But I am so freaked out by it all. I think it's stupid that I'm so upset by it all, but I just can't stop thinking and worrying about it. I take my daughter to that movie theater all the time. And as irrational as it sounds, right now I don't know if I can ever go back there. I know it was an isolated incident. I know the man who committed the crime is in jail. But the idea of going there, taking my little girl there...it's supposed to be a place to relax and enjoy ourselves and it feels like I'd never be able to do that there again. Even more irrational, it kind of has me scared to go to any movie theater. It's just not worth it.
I feel stupid for being so upset by these two events. But as both of these events were being covered by the news yesterday it just felt like our little safe corner of the world had been shattered. My anxiety is through the roof and I keep breaking down with these little crying meltdowns until I pull myself back together again. I feel stupid and irrational for being so scared. But I am scared. And I want a way to feel safe again.
The back story:
I grew up in a small town that is a suburb of a college town. I currently live in a suburb of a major city that is about two hours away from where I grew up. Neither of these areas are high crime kind of areas.
Early yesterday morning there was a news story unfolding from the area I grew up in. A woman was found stabbed to death in the parking garage of one of the hospitals. Schools near the hospital were put into lockdown but there were also schools out near the small town near where I grew up that went into lockdown. It took time for the story to unfold and information came out throughout the day. The woman's estranged husband had waited for her in the parking garage when/where she was arriving for work. He stabbed her and fled. They have children in the schools out in the small town and those schools were locked down because there was a fear that he might come there. He did not. He drove to a different city and was found later in the afternoon after having committed suicide. These kinds of things just don't happen in that area. It was a big news story but as is usually the case not all of the details were immediately available. We found out things a little at a time throughout the day. I still have a lot of family and friends that live there so I was following the story throughout the day to learn what was going on and make sure that no one I knew or cared about was hurt in any way.
Yesterday afternoon in the suburb where I currently live, a man shot another man inside of a movie theater because of a dispute about texting (during previews, before movie had actually started). The shooter was a retired police officer. The man he killed was a husband and a father of a young child. Again, this was a case of following the news as the story unfolded. We're still learning details even today. Our small little community is the talk of national news.
No one that I know directly was involved in either of these events. But I am so freaked out by it all. I think it's stupid that I'm so upset by it all, but I just can't stop thinking and worrying about it. I take my daughter to that movie theater all the time. And as irrational as it sounds, right now I don't know if I can ever go back there. I know it was an isolated incident. I know the man who committed the crime is in jail. But the idea of going there, taking my little girl there...it's supposed to be a place to relax and enjoy ourselves and it feels like I'd never be able to do that there again. Even more irrational, it kind of has me scared to go to any movie theater. It's just not worth it.
I feel stupid for being so upset by these two events. But as both of these events were being covered by the news yesterday it just felt like our little safe corner of the world had been shattered. My anxiety is through the roof and I keep breaking down with these little crying meltdowns until I pull myself back together again. I feel stupid and irrational for being so scared. But I am scared. And I want a way to feel safe again.
