On Wednesday November 7th at 11:20pm, terror overcame one of the safest communities in the nation at Borderline. Families, friends, and community members lives were impacted forever. The following morning, the same community was faced with more destruction, as flames began to engulf the city and forced them to evacuate their homes, businesses, and schools. There is so much to grieve and begin to comprehend.
I woke up to a text from my mom on Thursday morning asking, “Are you alive? I heard there was a shooting”. I never thought I would receive a message like that. We always hear about these tragic events, but often don’t have a personal connection. It doesn’t cross our minds that a loved one would be concerned we were involved. I had chills down my spine and was overcome with sadness to hear about how this was affecting so many people including my Pepperdine community.
The media described Borderline as a “nightclub” and “bar”, which denotes from what it truly is. It’s a fun safe place to go with friends, listen to country music, and learn to line dance.
During my time at Pepperdine, I frequented the Wednesday college nights at Borderline with friends. My friend Marie and I were actually planning to go this Saturday night - it’s one of our favorite places to have a fun night of dancing, but have never felt threatened or in any sort of danger. Those attending on Wednesday night expected the same, but experienced extreme tragedy instead.
My heart aches for all of the families and friends who lost their sons and daughters, spouses, and friends. Among the 11 victims was Alaina Housley, a freshman at Pepperdine University. A beautiful life that was taken much too soon. My heart grieves for her parents, family, friends, and the Pepperdine community.
My heart aches for the thousands of families, students, and businesses who have been forced to evacuate their communities and have already lost so much in the Woolsey Fire. It has burned over 85,000 acres, taking homes, memories, cars, and lives with it. My heart aches as I watch the news and see a place I used to call home go up in flames. My social media feed has been filled with pictures of friends stranded on Pacific Coast Highway for hours while trying to escape flames nearing them and students seeking refuge on campus wearing masks to protect themselves from the toxic smoke. I cannot imagine the fear students felt while sitting in the safe zone in the Pepperdine library watching flames approach the campus outside the window. I am so grateful for the bravery of the first responders who have kept Pepperdine and its staff and students safe.
It’s hard to explain how tight knit Pepperdine truly is unless you’ve experienced it. We are all a family and bonded in more ways than can be described. When we lose one of our own, it hits home and hits hard. When our community faces tragedy, all staff, students, parents, and alumni surround each other with an outpouring of love and prayer - we join together in solidarity. Our hearts ache for the violence, the pain, and the loss, but still remind each other of the grace and goodness God still pours out for us everyday. I spent all of Thursday fighting back tears while sitting at work and have felt deep sadness all weekend for all of those who have lost their lives and homes. You just never think that something like this could happen to your community.
With that said, I have never been more proud to be a part of Pepperdine’s community. This week has been absolute hell for so many people, but the amount of grace and generosity I have witnessed people pour out to one another is truly incredible. People have covered each other with blankets of prayers and love. Friends and families have opened their homes as a place to seek refuge. Donation funds have been created to help the students who have lost their homes, cars, and belongings. An entire community has joined together to truly serve one another. Political views, sexuality, race, gender, age, etc. have all been set aside, because these tragedies have given perspective to remind us that we’re all God’s children. We need to love and serve one another as Christ does for us everyday, no matter our personal views.
Violence is everywhere and we need change to protect more innocent lives from being lost. There have been over 300 shootings since the beginning of 2018 and thousands of innocent lives have been taken. How many more lives is it going to take for us to wake up and make a change? However, our brave first responders are doing everything they can to keep these communities safe and contain the horrific fires, for which I am so grateful. Among this violence and destruction, we need to continue to wrap each other in love and support.
Filled with sadness, all I can remind myself is that life is a gift. These horrific events can truly happen anywhere to anyone and we need to be grateful for every day and every breath we get in this life. It’s a humbling reminder to focus on what’s truly important each day. So go take time to love on people today and everyday.