In August of 2013, I took my oldest daughter to her first concert. She wanted to see Selena Gomez at the ACC and I bought a couple of tickets. It was the first pop concert I ever attended.
The opening act was an artist named Christina Grimmie. I didn't know a thing about her, but as I wrote at the time, she was great and one of her songs really got to me. That song was With Love, and my daughter and I shared an admiration for that song that survives to this very day.
It just so happens that today was one of those jam-packed father-daughter days. My alarm went off early so I could bike to High Park with my daughter for the High Park Derby, a soccer tournament her house league team was participating in. Then, on our ride home along the Waterfront Trail, we spotted Toronto Raptor James Johnson, who was kind enough to pose for a pic with my Raptors-loving little girl. Then, it was off to her second of four dance recitals this weekend.
While at this 1pm dance recital, I decided to check in on Twitter. That's when I read the news. 22-year old Christina Grimmie was dead.
Christina was shot while signing autographs after a performance. It was a targeted killing by someone who had taken his own life after shooting her three times. It was so senseless and sad. After my daughter's performance, I sat her down and told her the news.
Our father-daughter day continued, with a visit to the Grilled Cheese Challenge and SanRemo Bakery, and soon, yet another dance recital. And we still have With Love, only now, it's a bittersweet memory. So very sad... so very senseless...
