#GilroyStrong  #PrayforGTown

10 years ago, right after our son was born, we moved to Gilroy from Morgan Hill and bought our first home.  Prior to that we lived in San Jose.  It was extremely important that if we couldn’t stay in Morgan Hill, that we move to a small town with a wonderful community.  Moving to Gilroy was the best move we ever made.  

We have been extremely blessed with such a wonderful, tight-knit, giving and compassionate community.   We have made lifetime friends, who have become family.  We have built lasting relationships through Gilroy’s sports programs, our church, local shops and our school. 

The Gilroy Garlic Festival encompasses everything wonderful about our small town.  It is also our major outlet for our community programs to raise money, from pretty much every athletic program to 4H to church programs and beyond.   It takes thousands of volunteers, including our children, to make it a success.  I don’t think there is one person in the community who hasn’t volunteered at the festival at some point and we’ve all attended. 

The night of the shooting my phone was blowing up for hours, just like everyone else’s in the community.  We were all calling, texting and scrolling through Facebook to make sure all our friends and loved ones were safe.  Neighborhoods were put on lock-down as they looked for additional suspects.

Our children who were volunteering found themselves in the line of fire.  Running for their lives, hiding behind the trash cans they were supposed to be emptying. 

Today we woke up to the sun hidden by a cast of clouds; eerily calm and too quiet.  You could feel the somberness, fear, anger, anxiety, hopelessness, suffering, grief and despair.    But true to Gilroy, you could also feel the love and compassion and devotion that is the core of our community. 

Our community has a lot of healing in front of us and our prayers go out to all who were involved. But we are strong and with our tenacity, love, courage and compassion we will get through this. 

Please continue to pray for the town of Gilroy and all those involved in this senseless tragedy.   Pray that our children never let their anger become a weapon of mass destruction.  Pray that we give them the tools to cope in a world that has become increasingly selfish and violent.  Pray that if they fall for lies, that they have family and friends that can intervene.  Pray for our children.  They are our future.