My neighborhood, part 2

I've written about how much I love my little neighborhood, in the heart of the city. This time it's a little different because it's a new side to my area.

Around the corner and just down the street a 16 year old boy was gunned down at 4:00 this afternoon by a drive-by shooter. I can honestly say that I never thought I'd be typing that into my blog. I was driving home and saw the commotion a few minutes later with a dozen police cars, fire and rescue all on the scene. Not knowing what exactly had happened, I waited to see what the news reports were and then called a neighbor. For all it's size, Grand Rapids can be a very small town. My neighbor recognized someone they talked to in the report and all of a sudden it didn't happen to "someone else" but instead, someones relative.

It's a very unsettling feeling to have that kind of violence happen so close. That's never been part of my world. Things are feeling shaky enough in other areas, I don't want to lose my feeling of safety and security in my little neighborhood...