We are all too aware of the horrific events which occurred in Paris last Friday. We know that 129 people were murdered. But 129 to us is just a number, a figure that flashes up in the news bulletin which we register but do not fully appreciate. In commemoration, this column chooses to look closer in detail at an individual’s life which was lost, to better understand the devastating effects of this tragedy and reflect on the suffering of individuals at this moment in time.
Nohemi Gonzalez, known as Mimi to her loved ones, was a senior design major at California State University – Long Beach, spending a semester studying in Paris on a brief exchange. She was planning to return home at Christmas. She was fulfilling a childhood dream of living in Paris. It was a Friday night; after a week of studying her and two friends decided to treat themselves to a nice dinner out. This scene of happiness and laughter soon descended into one of horror as a gunman entered the restaurant and opened fire on the innocent, shooting Mimi in the stomach. In the commotion, neither of her two friends realised she had been killed until they saw her lifeless body being carried away on a stretcher.
(Photo Credit: Twitter)
NBC Los Angeles reports on Mimi’s death, with statements from her family. Mimi’s aunt Sandra Felt recalls that she was not only kind and caring, but “Very much of a go getter. Everything she wanted to do, she went after it. She was a determined young woman.” Watching her parents speak about her is poignant. Her father is silent, stunned by his grief. It is her mother who speaks, barely holding back the tears.
“She was a very independent since she was little. Since kindergarten I remember she used to organise everything and by the time that she got into high school she already knew that she was going to college. She wanted a career and she wanted a different life. She had big dreams. She was hoping to have a different life. She wanted to have a career and a family.”
As it stands, Mimi’s parents cannot find comfort in the return of their daughter’s body. The FBI have told them it will take more than three weeks to bring the body back to the United States due to investigations. So all they can do is sit and wait until they are reunited with their daughter.
(Photo Credit: USA Today)
The Mayor of her hometown calls this an “innocent victim of senseless violence.” Of course, Mimi is just one innocent victim. Her story is just one of the many heart-breaking stories which are devastating hundreds of communities around the world at this time. Let us pray for Mimi, for Paris, for Baghdad, for Beirut and humanity at this dark time.
(Photo Credit: Daily Mail/Khloe Kardashian)