Jessica Ghawi/Redfield's Twitter Profile Photo

Most Americans woke up to the horrifying news of the deadly mass-shooting in Aurora, Colorado, at the midnight showing of “The Dark Knight Rises”. If you learned about it online, especially via social media, you may have gotten to know one of the 12 who was killed — through her own words.

Jessica Ghawi, who tweeted and blogged as Jessica Redfield, was an aspiring sportscaster, enthusiastic hockey fan (and player), and had moved to Colorado from San Antonio, Texas. Chillingly, she narrowly missed being present at the Toronto mall shooting in July, and blogged about it dramatically.

Read now, her words sound prescient:

I was shown how fragile life was on Saturday. I saw the terror on bystanders’ faces. I saw the victims of a senseless crime. I saw lives change. I was reminded that we don’t know when or where our time on Earth will end. When or where we will breathe our last breath. For one man, it was in the middle of a busy food court on a Saturday evening.

I say all the time that every moment we have to live our life is a blessing. So often I have found myself taking it for granted. Every hug from a family member. Every laugh we share with friends. Even the times of solitude are all blessings. Every second of every day is a gift. After Saturday evening, I know I truly understand how blessed I am for each second I am given.

According to her Twitter feed, Ghawi “coerced” a friend — Brent Lowak was reportedly injured in the shooting– to attend the midnight showing with her. Her last tweet said, “MOVIE DOESN’T START FOR 20 MINUTES.”

P.S. Jessica’s brother, firefighter and paramedica Jordan Ghawi, has been tweeting and blogging about traveling to Colorado in the wake of the incident.

Related Topics: Channel: Social Media | Twitter

About The Author: Pamela Parker is executive features editor of Marketing Land and a contributing editor for Search Engine Land. She’s a well-respected authority on digital marketing, having reported and written on the subject since 1998, including a stint as managing editor of ClickZ. She’s also worked to help monetize independent publishers’ sites at Federated Media Publishing. She blogs about media and marketing at The River and about cooking, gardening and parenthood at Free Range. See more articles by Pamela Parker

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