Yesterday, the news hit close to home. A shooting at the Kansas City Chiefs (American football) Superbowl celebration at Union Station in Kansas City. 23 shot, including children. One killed.

I live 95 miles away, which means the shooting isn’t that close to home. But it is. Union Station is a landmark in Kansas City, a grand building which hosts exhibitions which have commemorated Van Gogh and the Holocaust. It’s a gathering place along with its nearby Memorial Hill and Liberty Memorial Tower. I have been there, eaten at Pierpont’s, and taken a train from the station to Hermann for my honeymoon. Never have I felt unsafe there.

The first I heard of the shooting was the messages on Facebook: Kansas City friends, please report in. Are you okay? And the reports came in, from friends and friends of friends: We went over the fence. I heard a series of pops and we ran. I was right in front of where it happened. I don’t know what to tell my kids.

23 shot, including children. One killed.

And then, the frustration. Thoughts and prayers become suspect, because the prayers we need are for people to do hard work to solve the mass shooting problem. The thoughts we need are for solutions. It’s going to take both pro- and anti-gun sides to do the work because that’s how we work in the US. Instead, we see finger-pointing and recriminations and the shrugging of shoulders because we can’t find any way to solve the problem of mass shootings.

I am a pacifist, so I sit on the side of fewer guns in the US. But I also believe that a way can open for us to find the solution, even with vehemently opposing sides. And my thoughts and prayers will go toward a way where this can happen.