Intersection Sanctum

There is a new shrine on my way to school - heart shaped mylar balloons, flowers, a candle or two. The rain has washed some of it away, but the memorial is still obvious to anyone who happens by the corner of 50th and Vicksburg. It went up yesterday morning, after Gary Ruiz, a 20-year-old Oakland carpenter, and his friend Elizabeth Lopez-Bojorquez, 18, were shot dead not far from their homes. It was the second homicide for the Ruiz family. Gary's older brother was killed in June 1993.
This one is only half a block away from a very similar spot marked for "Thomas" whose life ended on that same street two years ago. Chances are there will be people returning to that intersection from time to time for a while, in attempts to connect some meaning to the young lives lost. It doesn't make sense. If you link it to gang violence or drugs, it still doesn't make sense.
The killings brought the Oakland's homicide count this year to 24. Last year at this time there were eight homicides. Sometimes when I'm out running with my dog or riding my bike with my son it's easy to forget where I live. It's a neighborhood, not a war zone. The kids in my school didn't talk about it, even though it happened across the street from one of the boys in the other fourth grade class. Maybe they didn't hear anything. Maybe that's best.
Outside it's beginning to rain again.