It's been two years since I last spoke with Natalie. We'd once been close but had had a falling out. When she found out I had cancer, she sent a lovely note. Bygones were gone--especially in the face of something so serious. That's the kind of person she was--gentle, kind, and forgiving.
On Friday, August 8, 2003, Natalie, the mother of two small children, was shot to death by police. They claim she brandished a gun at them and they shot in self-defense. Even when I was on the outs with her, I couldn't have imagined her capable of such an a thing. Totally contrary to her belief system. Not within her nature.
Two weeks earlier, a neighbor, with whom I'd once been friends, tramped into the woods behind my RV and shot himself to death.
How can we reconcile our experience of a person with behavior that seems 180 degrees off, that makes no sense? How do we cope with circumstances so violent and tragic? How do they find their way into our reality and why? Is there something we might have done to have prevented it or did the people involved choose a path that ended in their own destruction? How does it work? How should we feel? What should we do?
What do you think?
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