Life is a weird thing in all different aspects. Perhaps there's just no way of understanding it and maybe there's a hope that you can. However, there's one aspect of life I don't think I will ever understand and that's how someone can be here one moment, and then gone in the blink of an eye.
On the evening of June 10, 2016, Christina Grimmie was fatally shot by a man named Kevin James Loibl outside of The Plaza Live in Orlando, Fla. She was doing a meet and greet, where artists take the time to take pictures with their fans and sign autographs, when Loibl approached her, drawing his gun. She was later taken to the hospital, but succumbed to her wounds early the next morning. She was only 22 years old. One moment she was living her dream, spreading love through her music—and in a matter of minutes, she was gone—taken by a senseless act of violence.
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When I heard of the incident, I was lying in bed, scrolling through my Twitter feed. It was midnight and I was supposed to be up early the next morning. A friend of mine retweeted a news link that reported Christina Grimmie had been shot after a show, and I felt the fear in the back of my mind. My mind that was about to settle down for the night, was now refreshing my Twitter feed, in hopes that there had been an update about her condition, and only a few minutes after seeing the tweet about her attack, I found an update. She had died from her wounds. I read the article over and over again, I scrolled through Twitter tags, hoping that it wouldn't be true, that the hashtag "RIPChristinaGrimmie" wasn't real. But it was, and I struggled with that.
I hadn't kept up with her music over the past couple of years, simply because my music taste had changed, and stuff like that happens. But I still remember the first day I came across Christina Grimmie. It was five years ago, when I was 16 years old and avoiding doing my homework by scrolling through YouTube videos. In the suggested box, there was a video featuring a medley of songs. I clicked on it and listened; the girl's voice was amazing. It quickly became one of my favorite videos and she was one of the first people I subscribed to on YouTube. I was amazed by her talent. The fact that she was only a year older than me encouraged me that if I practiced singing, maybe I could be as good as her one day.
While my dream of becoming a famous singer fizzled out, being a fan of Christina didn't. Her music was amazing and the energy she gave off was great. But overall, I think my favorite thing about her way back then was that she was so shy, and yet she was still confident. She believed in her dreams and let others know it was OK to believe in theirs, even if their dreams seemed unachievable.
As stated earlier, Christina was shot after a performance. She was at her meet and greet where hundreds of fans were standing in line, waiting to meet their idol. What makes this event so troubling to even really think about is that this man attacked her in a place everyone considered their safe place. A concert could be described as anywhere a singer is performing their songs to a crowd of people, but it's not just that. It's a safe haven—a place where people can enjoy their favorite music, meet people with the same interests and be in a venue together, away from the real world. For those few short hours, it's just you and the music, and you feel safe.
This summer in July, I will be attending two 5 Seconds of Summer concerts with my best friend. The concerts are a day apart from one another. And while I know that security will be more strict due to the venue and crowd size, I can't help but be nervous. Nervous at the fact that the place I'll be in could be the next incident seen on the news. That the people around me and myself could be the victims of another tragedy.
When that man stepped into the line of Grimmie's meet and greet, he knew what he was going to do. He had traveled almost two hours away from his home to commit this senseless act of violence. He corrupted hundreds of people's safe place. He turned something that makes so many people happy, into something that I'm sure those in attendance will never forget. With his actions, he not only took away the moment of bliss in that safe place, but he took away the one person who was key in so many of these people's lives. He took away the young woman whose words and lyrics and beliefs helped millions of people get through the day. He dimmed the extremely bright future of a girl who just wanted to spread love through her music.
There's a dark shadow hanging heavily over the lives of those involved in the situation and Grimmie's other fans, but yet there is guidance from the bright light that Christina Grimmie left through the 216 videos on her YouTube channel, as well as her music available on iTunes. That light will continue to give people faith and hope that maybe there is more good in the world than bad, and this fear will soon pass.
But until then, a young woman has lost her life, and the world lost a beautifully, talented and loving soul.
