Yesterday, I woke up from a nap to hear a constant stream of ambulance and police sirens. It’s not very uncommon to hear sirens driving down Sheridan, but not for a steady stream of half an hour. Then I heard a helicopter near the lake. I looked out of my apartment building and I could see a long line of people on the beach around the corner from my apartment. I thought it was pretty weird that it looked like a line instead of a round crowd. Anyway, I scoured the news and twitter and couldn’t find anything about what was going on. I thought about walking over to the beach, but if there was an emergency, I didn’t want to be an annoying bystander in the way. Eventually I found a police radio station and heard that two girls were pulled out of the water and that divers were searching for a third person. The sirens and helicopter sounds went on into the evening, and eventually news had covered that a 15 year old girl, Lexie Adu, was still missing in Lake Michigan. All night, I lay in bed listening to the helicopter just hoping that they would find her, alive. When Austin and I woke up, every time we heard a siren, we were hoping that it was because they found her.

And they did.

They found her dead this morning.

My thoughts go out to the Adu family. I can’t even imagine what it feels like to lose a child. My mom says it’s unlike any pain you will ever feel, and feels like the worst kind of pain. 

If you go swimming in the lake or ocean this summer, be safe, stay close to shore and go with friends.