Two of these senseless shootings of the past year hit home. My daughter lives in Portland. She told me that several of her friends were in the Clackamas Town Centre earlier on the day of the shootings this week. My son graduated from the exact UC Denver medical school neuro-science department that the Aurora shooter had been enrolled in. I no longer wonder if these tragedies are going to occur. I wonder when and where they’re going to occur. And pray that my loved ones aren’t victimized by them. Also, I wonder if that’s the best this country can do — to hope that the next senseless shooting or the one after that or the one after that doesn’t harm my family and friends. What an awful mess we’re in. My prayers are with the families, victims, students, teachers, administrators, parents and community of the Connecticut school.