As I begin to write this, I honestly don't even know where to begin or exactly what to say. I could tell you that I feel sick to my stomach. I could tell you that I'm terrified to leave me house. I could tell you that it feels unreal to me that so many innocent lives have been lost so violently and so senselessly. All of these things are true. But if I'm going to tell you that, then I also feel obligated to tell you that after I write this article, I'm going to spend a week with my grandma. I'm going to crawl out of my bed, get into my car, and drive away. Because my life goes on. Soon, I won't feel sick anymore, and I'll except the fact that I have to leave my house. After all these shootings, the world keeps spinning. My life goes on. Your life goes on. We are so lucky. But what about the victims? They don't get to drive to their grandma's house anymore, and their grandmas don't get to see them ever again.

And I don't understand.

How is it that some people come to think that they get to decide who never has a chance to see their grandma again? How do people think they have that right? Just because you have the power to do something doesn't mean you should do it. And yet, it just keeps on happening. Orlando, Dallas, Paris, Baton Rouge and so many more. Just in a matter of weeks. What is going on? Wake up world. We need to stop this before there's no one left to stop it. Killing each other and then fighting over whose fault it is won't solve anything. Violence only breeds more violence. Hate only breeds more hate. And people retaliating out of anger only breeds more anger. My mom always tells me that when something bad happens in one extreme, it will be counteracted by the opposite extreme in an attempt to fix it before it finally comes to rest in the middle. I really hope the extremes are close to balancing out, because the world needs to come to rest soon. Unfortunately, I don't know how to make that happen. All I can do is keep thinking, keep writing and keep trying.

Rest in peace.