ANGELA’S WISHES

304 Days ago, our beloved Angela Gomez (age 20) was taken away much too soon from this life. She was a fun-loving, vibrant, caring and compassionate soul, whose presence in this life made the world a better place to be because she lived in it.

Her death was sudden and unexpected.

We learned she was killed at the Route 91 Harvest Music Festival in Las Vegas on October 1, 2017, the worst mass shooting in modern American history. She died in the arms of her high school sweetheart Ethan Sanchez, a young man who has remained loving and devoted to her from the moment he laid eyes on her.

After hearing the very worst news of our lives, we picked up the phone to tell her siblings that their baby sister was gone. We broke that horrible news to everyone who loves her. Deepest sadness and absolute shock is what we all felt in the days that followed as we planned her funeral, something no parent should ever have to do.

We were all drowning in the depths of despair. It truly felt like drowning because of the emptiness in our hearts and lungs .. it constricts your ability to think or even to breathe.

We faced an unimaginable kind of pain, the brutality of a great loss. We never knew we could cry so much or so often. We’ve come to realize, it’s these difficult days, the days that challenge us to our very core that will determine who we are.

We also learned that along with that huge reservoir of sadness is gratitude.

Gratitude for the kindness of our friends, the love of our family, and the laughter of our grandchildren And that gratitude has helped us to overcome some of the grief.

It is in these moments we are reminded that in the face of this tremendous loss and despair that we have a choice. We can choose to live in fear and anger, or we can choose love, joy and meaning.

A year ago, we had 2 months left and we had no idea.

And through tears we asked ourself how we would live if we knew we only had 2 months left. Can you ask yourselves how you would live if you had 2 months left? … to live with the understanding of how precious each day would be?

Because that’s how precious every day actually is.

Thank you Angela for teaching us so much about ourselves and for being there pushing us to choose love. We know you are with us because you have shown us the signs you are near.

We feel you comforting us and guiding us to live our best lives. It’s the love and light that you have always shared with us that keeps us laughing, loving, crying and living.

Our hope at “Angela’s Wishes” is that one can find that gratitude not just on the easy days , but on the hard days when it’s needed the most.