One for Sorrow, Two for Joy

"Lock, lights, out of sight" is a common public announcement during a lockdown in a high school classroom. Angela Merlano never believed she would hear it outside of drills, until May 7th, 2019. She suffered a school gun violence incident, frozen in lockdown for hours with minimal communication to her family, before finally escaping. Yet, it was what happened afterwards that was the most difficult. Now, she battles a harrowing healing journey with various obstacles and tries to find her own definition of hope.

"Lock, lights, out of sight" is a common public announcement during a lockdown in a high school classroom. Angela Merlano never believed she would hear it outside of drills, until May 7th, 2019. She suffered a school gun violence incident, frozen in lockdown for hours with minimal communication to her family, before finally escaping. Yet, it was what happened afterwards that was the most difficult. Now, she battles a harrowing healing journey with various obstacles and tries to find her own definition of hope. In "One for Sorrow, Two for Joy", Angela Merlano returns to May 7th, 2019 as she narrates the harrowing story of sitting through a gun violence incident. As she struggles through trauma, an anxiety disorder, learning respect, and garnering validity, she weaves her way through a closed-in community and finds herself with an open mind. Her journey through the healing process not only taught her to be more accepting of others, but also helped her to realize the pain that gun violence victims battle with day to day. The connection with community is the light of hope in the shadows of trauma. She finds that she is more similar than different to other victims of gun violence incidents and finds interrelation with family outside of the community.

Angela Merlano is a self-published author and journalist. At 15, she went through the daunting experience of a school shooting. She hopes that her experience can comfort survivors like her and spread awareness of the delicacy of anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder. Angela is progressively healing and living her life to the fullest. Born and raised in beautiful Colorado with her two dogs, Angela loves to write and continues to improve her ability. She is currently earning her Associate's degree as a senior in high school and is continuing to write whenever possible.