Mourning

Yesterday, in the neighboring town of Kirkwood, a gunman attacked a city council meeting, killing five people and wounding two others (one of whom was the mayor). The alleged gunman was shot and killed by a police officer.


Our communities are still in shock. Kirkwood is only a few miles away from us, and I go there often--for church, for ballet class, for book club. Like our suburb, Kirkwood prides itself on being a prosperous city with a small-town feel. It is not the kind of place that you expect something like this to happen.


Today, on the way to ballet class, I passed a Webster Groves church that had changed its sign to read "We love you, Kirkwood." Signs outside of Kirkwood businesses and the Y gave condolences and prayers to the victims and their families. I drove home by City Hall. As we stopped at the railroad crossing in the center of town and waited for a freight train to pass, I thought I saw the man in the car behind me wipe away tears. We drove by the remains of a press conference, as well as soberly dressed people leaving a church service. People had heaped flowers on the City Hall steps. When I got back into Webster Groves, I noticed that all our flags were at half-mast too.