Condolences and Best Wishes

By Jack Simony

There's not much to say about the horrific and tragic massacre in Arizona yesterday, but I wanted to add my voice to those sending their deepest condolences to the families of the dead and wishes for speedy and full recoveries to the injured, most notable among them, obviously, Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, by all accounts a bright, hard-working and dedicated public servant.  Given the location in the brain in which she was shot, there is -- amazingly -- hope for her recovery.  But with the murder of Federal Judge John M. Roll we lost a universally admired legal mind and a well-liked man.  We lost a nine-year old girl.  We lost a beloved mother, grandmother and great-grandmother, a young Congressional staffer engaged to be married, a retiree whose husband is still hospitalized from bullet wounds of his own, and another retiree married to his high-school sweetheart, who covered her with his body to protect her from the bullets.

For thumbnail sketches of them, see: http://www.staradvertiser.com/news/breaking/113180379.html#5_2,4_0_8d62627_%7B%22method%22%3A%22cookieFailure%22%2C%22params%22%3A%5

I wanted to write to help memorialize them.  And I know we all not only wish for the recovery of the injured from their physical wounds and mental trauma, but...no, never mind.  I won't get political.  At a moment like this, I'll keep it about the shooting victims and their loved ones.

-By Jack Simony