Today I got to play receptionist, after answering a few calls and surfing the web I quickly ran out of things to do. So Jonathan a volunteer from fellowship house sits down and starts talking to me about his family, being adopted and  moving to Camden. As we sit I think about how cool it is that I meet all these people with such amazing stories and wisdom to share. As we talk I hear a noise outside, after a second of shock it starts setting in that they are gunshots... people are frantic, running down the street screaming. My first thought is our kids stand on those streets all the time. In fact in about a half an hour they would be getting off the bus and running those streets into our camp. How could someone be shooting in broad daylight with kids around? My director made the decision that we should cancel camp for the day. Even though this is prolly the safest time to be on this street we don't want to bring the kids into this type of environment. I am asked to ride in the bus so I can explain to parents why we are not having camp. As I walk to the bus I lift the yellow caution tape walking through a crime scene to go get my kids.

It is reported that a woman was shot in the torso at 2:10 today...we were told she was shot as she was putting a child in the back seat of a car...my heart breaks from that child.

I still don't know how to process any of this, and at times I feel ridiculous for even writing all this when I know it happens often in this city. But that's part of the problem, in a city where murder is a norm its so easy to become desensitized to the things going on around you. It should never be normal for kids, or adults for that matter to hear gunshots