Lean On Me.

There are few worse things than receiving a text message from your roommate on a Saturday night to inform you of a shooting resulting in fatalities on your college campus.

It brings me great sadness to report on such a careless, senseless tragedy happening in my second home, the peaceful town of Auburn, Alabama; once ranked in the top 5 cities in America to raise a family.

It's a classic case of "I never thought this would be me." I never thought I would be reading or hearing about my school on CNN or ESPN for anything other than football games, let alone a murder case.

But alas, life is not always a fairy tale; nor did it ever promise to be, and unfortunately these things do happen.

Saturday night three men, two of them former Auburn football players, lost their lives in an apartment complex. The reason? They were arguing over a girl.

Three men took their last breaths at a party on a summer night because of a girl...Makes sense doesn't it?

What ever happened to the days of just plain beating the crap out of each other? 

Those men were sons, brothers, cousins, nephews, grandsons, teammates, boyfriends, friends, students, roommates. They came from hometowns.  

I went to church this morning and as I sat in the choir pew's looking out onto the congregation, I looked at all the children. I thought, those men were little boys once, going to church and Sunday School.

Their parents had no idea they would grow up to die so young or to be responsible for taking a life.

It makes you wonder what went wrong. Why was this their destiny?

At Auburn, we like to say we're "All In." We pride ourselves on our family-like togetherness. It's a spirit and a lifestyle that is unmatched. So to say we are not all grieving is simply not true.

Yes, I'm thankful it was not anyone I knew personally but it's a hit to the whole family nonetheless.

We always say God is an Auburn fan because when the sun sets, the sky is orange and blue. And tonight the sky was a little more orange and a little more blue.

I guess there were too many Bama fans up there for God to handle so he had to call for backup...

May these men rest in peace. And may their families and their friends find clarity in a time of such devastation and comfort in knowing that we are All Auburn, All Family and we are All going through this Together.

"Turn from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it." Psalm 34:14

-Lo.