In our household we celebrated the New Year with Great-Grandmother and Great-Uncle at our home in Puerto Rico. Just the five of us talking, eating, listening to music and playing with our daughter. Our dog was a little stressed from all of the fireworks happening around our neighborhood.
No Mas Balas al Aire
For many years in Puerto Rico there has been a campaign during the holidays that calls on all citizens to not shoot guns in the air, or in Spanish, “No Mas Balas al Aire”, to celebrate the coming of the new year. Unfortunately there are people who don’t adhere to this campaign and every year someone gets hurt.
As we were counting down the seconds, lots of firecrackers and fireworks were going off, so you can imagine that my dog was looking around to see where the noise was coming from and was stressed out. As we were underneath our gazebo that is made of cement, Raul kept on telling me to stay under because no one can decipher a gunshot from a firework.
I decided to go upstairs and check out the fireworks with the baby from the window and she was a bit scared with all of the noise. So I decided to go back down and rejoin the family. Overall it was a great night for our family and was quite peaceful give an take the noise.
Victims of New Year Bullets
But for several people around the island, especially one girl of fifteen named Karla Michelle Negron, things did not bode well. Karla Michelle is a victim of a stray bullet and has caused her to be on life support since Jan 1st. Today the parents have to make a decision of whether or not to take their daughter off of life support. (Updated link in English)
Acts such as this one happen in the states as well and I read about a little boy who like Karla Michelle, was a victim of this crime and he died when a stray bullet entered a church and struck him, leaving him dead. Parents who have had to suffer the loss of a child over such an irresponsible act must feel helpless, and I know I would.
Who are the bad guys?
Who do you blame for this when stray bullets cause death or severe harm to a loved one? Those people who do these things don’t think of the consequences of their acts. As a child, I grew up in a not-so-friendly neighborhood and heard lots of gunfire all year round. And this held true during New Years when several people I know would do this for fun. But the police cracked down on this type of behavior and as an adult I hardly ever heard of people in my old neighborhood doing this. If someone from the old neighborhood happens to read this let me know if this is true.
Can Karla Michelle’s parents go hunting down the people or person who did this to their daughter?
No they can’t because the cowards who do this type of action, keep on living their life while Karla Michelle fights for her life. Sometimes I sit and watch our daughter who is learning so many things everyday. I try to think about what her future will be like and what she will do and who she will ultimately become, and then I stop. I don’t know what will happen in the next second, minute, hour, day, or as the writer Glennon Melton at Momastery explains the difference between chronos time versus kairos time when people tell her to seize the moment as her children grow up.
Karla Michelle’s parents were seizing the moment during a time of celebration and had to stop because someone committed a crime that harmed their daughter. This senseless act turned a time of celebration into a time of fear and desperation to save the life of their daughter.
Positive Thoughts
I don’t know if most of the people who will read this pray to Allah, Jehovah, Buddha, God, or don’t pray at all. But religion aside, at this moment if you could take the time to send a positive thought to Karla Michelle, her parents, and family members, who are cherishing every last second with her.
Parents all over the world lose children to disease, war, and senseless crimes everyday. Let us hope that as the seconds go by, that Karla Michelle’s parents can be strong for one another and that their family and the community at large will help support them during these seconds, minutes, and hours that they have with their daughter.
At PapaHeroes we are sending our strongest prayers to the family and all those who are taking care of Karla Michelle at this very moment. We will update you on her progress as she battles for her life.
Update:
As a parent it is with great saddness that I update this with the outcome no parent should have to go through. According to the local news outlets, Karla Michelle has passed on. Our condolences to the parents Carlos Negrón and Evelyn Vélez, family members, friends and her community.
Photo by agilitynut
Thanks to PRDailySun.com for updated information.
Thanks to WSBTV Georgia for the link.
Thanks for creating a thought provoking post!
Señor, mi vida está en sus manos
Toma mi corazón
Toma mi vida
Como un sacrificio vivo
Todos mis sueños, todos mis planes
Señor, los pongo en sus manos…….
Mucha Fortaleza a toda la familia de Karla Michelle y mis oraciones…..
Heidie,
Gracias por comentar!
Puerto Rico Police and Neighbors need to get involved to fight this kind of situation. God only knows how many more innocent lives are in danger. People need to fight back and get involved in their neighborhood. I feel so bad for her family and friends. This is senseless. My prayers to her family. God Bless them all the give them comfort in this time of sorrow.
You are correct Damaris that the police and citizens need to be proactive when they see people committing a crime.
Their are mix feelings. The majority of the police force will not risk their lives against these type of situations since they are under paid and some of them not even committed to their jobs. They are just there for a paycheck. Given that situation it is very risky for people to fight this when the individuals committing these acts are reckless and heavily armed.
The other day I was listening to @jayfonsecapr on his radio show and he spoke how at this point like many other places of the world we need to negotiate with the individuals controlling the streets. Have them at least enforce some laws and rules so they can continue doing other business. It might sound counter productive but it is a step ahead of where we are at right now.
My condolences to Karla Michelles parents, family and friends. ;(
We hope they are recieving the type of support from their family. It devastates us that a life so young has been taken from her family.
Mis condolencias para su familia 🙁 Es muy triste saber que estas cosas les suceden a inocentes y de manos de ignorantes q no piensan con la cabeza, lo que estan haciendo. Descansa en Paz Michelle y mucha fortaleza para sus padres y demas familia. Que Dios los y nos bendiga y proteja siempre. Amen.
Esperemos que la familia e amistades esten juntos durante este tiempo dificil. Como madre primeriza, no me puedo imaginar el dolor de los padres de esta inocente.
I hope Puerto Ricans that own guns learn that this is the worst way of celebrating new years its unfair for family’s to live in such fear in their own home. It brings sadness to my heart when I think of this family they are going to need a lots of prayer.
I think people who have firearms should think twice about the lives they can take when they are using them for “celebrating”. Look at the case of the little boy in Florida who was inside of a church no less celebrating with his family and was killed because some one chose to celebrate by firing their gun in the air. We have decided that next year we are not stepping foot outside of our house even with a gazebo over our heads. Thanks for sharing your thoughts with us.
I meant the little boy in Georgia.
q descanse empas kalrla michelle mi mas sentido pesame ala familia de karla michelle todas las noches orare pol ella dios bendiga a su lamilia hoy y siempre ..
A nosotros nos dio mucha lastima leer y escuchar por las noticias que se habia muerto Karla Michelle. La isla entera lloro pero no nos podemos imaginar el dolor que siente su familia, amistades, y comunidad mas cercana a ella. Gracias por enviar pensamientos positivos a la familia.