Many lives were shattered in the minutes on that Sunday night. Hopes and dreams were ended and plans were forever changed. We look for lessons in this madness, a motive, a reason. Some of us are still looking.
We sing about living in the land of the free, and we do. In theory, we are free to stand, kneel or sit. Love who we want. Vote for who we want. Boycott what we want. Being free does not mean we agree. We will never agree. But sometimes we lose sight of the most important thing. We are all still humans and even in the middle of evil, goodness will shine.
That Sunday night, during the worst of times, people did not ask each other who they voted for. They did not ask if they were gay or straight or whether they kneeled or stood for a song. Every day people did very brave things and simply tried to help each other. Because when you really look at human nature, when it all falls apart, that is what we do.
And maybe that is the greatest lesson of all.