Bend Oregon while it is a small town nestled in Central Oregon had always been a tourist town. Heck, we have even attracted Hollywood to our little fair city.
Ever hear of Tom Selleck, Jennifer Love Hewitt, Mario Lopez, Justin Beiber, Chad Everett and I could name more. All of these people have been to our fair city and some even stayed for a while but even then we were nothing more than pretty little community.
Bend truly is that. We attract snowboarders, skiers and adventurers because we have the best of the outdoor life at our fingertips year round here. I’m always amazed when I found out people have moved here from clear across the country. I never fail to ask them why either,
The answer is almost always the same. “I came here with my family and fell I love with this town.”
We have truly been blessed here in Bend. We are not considered an unsafe city even though we have had our share of crimes that includes a grocery store shooting that rocked our city.
So on Thursday, when a 16 year old boy shot his way into Silver Rail Elementary School and shot 4 people before being shot himself we never thought our community would be her face this type of tragedy. We are facing it now on national stage and it be part of a debate concerning gun laws.
While I get the politicians always have to have their say. It really doesn’t matter here. Somewhere in this town of mine, families are grieving the loss of their children and others are facing the terror of sending their children back to school again.
I understand the terror and fear and I hope at some point it won’t be the first thing we think of when everyday but that won’t happen for a while. Until that day comes I’ll pray for our town and our people here. We all need the peace that surpasses understanding and I hope we all find it.
