Friday, June 29, 2012

My Weekend Contemplation

The reason so many songs get written about love, particularly young love, is simple. It’s wonderful. It’s magical. It’s what we all want. To fall head over heels, to love with abandon. Even the most bitter and cynical among us can’t help but make a subconscious cute cooing sound when confronted with a couple in the full throws of puppy love. It’s hard wired into our DNA. So when that love is ended, not by a broken heart but something far more sinister, it seems as if the natural order of the world is askew.

The horror of what happened to 19-year-old Mollie Judith Olgin and 18-year-old Mary Kristene Chapa in a park in a small Texas town over the weekend is just now setting in. The couple, who friends said had been together for five months, were doing what young couples often do. Hanging out together at a park on a Saturday night. I’ve done that. You’ve done that. Find a romantic spot and snuggle with your girl. When I see a couple, particularly a young couple, doing just that that automatic awww sound can’t help but slip out. Awww, young love.

But for someone last Saturday night the presence of two teen girls in love didn’t bring up those warm, puppy feelings. They brought about sinister, angry, hateful feelings. Just being in love brought about this horrible, horrible fate. Both girls marched out to the tall grass and shot execution style in the head and left to die in the dark. One dead, another clinging to life. Police won’t confirm it was a hate crime or they were targeted for their sexual orientation yet. But it’s hard to imagine another reason. It’s even harder, of course, to imagine why any two people’s happiness might elicit this evil.

In my corner of the world it was Pride over the weekend. I was surrounded by thousands and thousands of people, all happy and proud. Some in love. Others looking for love. All just being themselves. All letting everyone else be themselves. Which is how it should be. But then, we remember, we remember when something horrible happens that some people don’t think we should be allowed to be ourselves. Some people think our love should be destroyed. Some people think our very existence is an aberration. And this, this is why we will never stop fighting. Tonight vigils will take place for the girls across the country and in that very park. Because hate should never defeat love. We should all be able to sit in a park on a Saturday night with the person we love and be happy. It’s the simplest thing. It’s why songs are written. Have a happy and safe weekend, all.

18 comments:

Jill said...

To be honest, I've cowardly avoided thinking about this story too much because of how absolutely terrifying and tragic it is. Thank you for this.

MariaKFS said...

Im in shock. Evil like this does not deserve to live on this earth. I can't imagine what goes through a persons mind, when doing such a deed. We have a lot of fighting to do, in a world with so much hatred

Florence said...

Beautiful post. Really I mean it. I almost cried reading it. Like you said, that's what it's all about: to be able to sit in a park on a Saturday with the person we love. Simple as that.

Erika said...

My heart feels sick. Thank you for writing what I've been thinking & feeling all week.

Erika said...

Another thought: has anyone started a fund for Mary? Do we know enough to do so? I know there was a vigil in SF...just wondering if anything else has been set-up.

Anonymous said...

If you want to donate to Mary Kristene's family to help them pay the medical bills, there's a link at the end of this article that'll take you to a page where you can do so

http://nbclatino.com/2012/06/27/gay-latina-teen-making-amazing-recovery-after-tragic-shooting-of-her-and-her-girlfriend/

I hadn't actually cried about this story until I read that she's been writing Mollie's name down over and over again but they're afraid to tell her that she's dead for fear it'll impede her recovery. I can't even imagine.

Kristan said...

Dorothy, thanks for the heads-up on this. I hadn't heard. (I can't believe I've heard about Tom & Katie's divorce but not this.)

@Anonymous 7:29-
Thank you for the link. I will be donating. And holy crap, that thing about Mollie's name is beyond heartbreaking... Sigh.

Carmen SanDiego said...

Beautiful words

Leanne said...

Well said. It's horrible to think that kind of hate exists in the world. A young, beautiful love destroyed because of some small-minded person/people. Everyone has the right to live and love as they choose.

Annabelle said...

It's because of events like this that my university went ahead and made this video, adapting the message from the original one slightly.
If you need a smile on your face, please watch.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TVEWLnkmZdU

Best Business Brands said...

As I prepare to present my first weekend contemplative photography workshop in Kentucky this weekend, I keep thinking about space, that is, ...

Laurie said...

They were me when I was 18. Sometimes I forget, but this has brought it all back, and broken a piece of my heart for them both, all who love them, and a world that holds such awfulness. I can't stand it.

KeAnne said...

I don't understand people. Don't like same-sex couples? Ok, but how does that jump to thinking it is right to shoot them, to kill them? Just horrific.

Alexandra said...

I don't get the hate.

Why so much hate??

People, we're all the same people.
Thank you for writing about this, and getting people to think, and do what they feel they have to do.

Like me, right now, crying for these beautiful much too young souls.

Tears for them.

Anonymous said...

it seems like one step forward into becoming more integrated with society and two steps back with intolerance of anything out of the norm.there must be a better way to make people understand that love is love and there should be no problem ever into understanding that concept..it is truly a universal concept in all thinking beings.

Liz said...

Every time I hear about something like that, I know it could have been me, every case is unique for itself.
I'm not living in the US and when I said that it could happend to me I meant that.
think that this weapon was aimed for all of us, all the LGBTQ community in the world.
I send my love and support for their friends and families of the two girls.
And thank you writer for your beautiful words.
Sorry if I made mistakes in my writing.
Liz,Jerusalem,Israel.

Anonymous said...

Help Pay Texas Teen's Medical Bills

Kristene's family is struggling to pay her medical bills. Let's join together and make sure Kristene gets all the medical care she needs:

http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/151489?c=home

egghead said...

Glad you wrote about this. Will it ever end? This is just too sad. And scary. Yet don't let this push anyone further into the closet. Be brave but careful about your surroundings. Of course one can't spot a psychopath in a crowd -- they don't LOOK LIKE zombies -- yet they are there, and being prodded forward by of all beings, their religiously insane pastors. What a wonderful world, eh?