Blue Christmas

I said I might not update again this year since Luna passed away, but I guess since I've been struck with a few other pieces of bad news, I'll just move forward with kind of a Blue Christmas vibe. If you are feeling the holiday cheer this year and don't need someone to dampen it, feel free not to read further.

I have a Great Uncle who is currently recovering from unexpected medical complications. Despite his diagnosis usually being fatal, he managed to overcome the most dire stage, and things are looking optimistic for him at this point. He is not someone I know quite well, but we have met at family reunions, and I remember having conversations with him. It's really interesting how, despite not knowing someone well, if they are family the news will still hit you hard.

We also learned that someone deeply connected with the family passed not too long ago. Again, I did not know this person well, but we would always visit her at family reunions, and she would often house members of our family. She lived to a good age, but it is still sad to hear.

On a less personal but more geographically relevant note, there was another homicide by gun violence in my neighbourhood a few weeks ago. Within eyeshot of where I live. It happened in the early hours, and may have been connected to another incidence, in which a vehicle with Quebec license plates was found burning in a nearby parking lot a few hours later. Police later confirmed the identity of the victim and said they had reason to believe that the attack was targeted.

That was the 19th shooting incident in Waterloo Region this year, and the fourth homicide.

However, I guess we wanted to celebrate the new decade with round numbers, because just the other day, we had our fifth homicide and our shooting incident number 20 to usher in 2020. Wasn't in my neighbourhood this time. It was in the early hours and said to be targeted again. Hopefully people chill out until at least the new year, if only for the number pattern.