To all of the Families and Friends of the Las Vegas shooting victims: My heart is with you in your time of sorrow and grief. To the shooting victims struggling with injuries: My heart is with you and I am hoping for your safe and speedy recovery.

This past September marks my five-year anniversary of living in Las Vegas. Having moved from Los Angeles, I have come to love this vibrant city, its wonderful diversity of people and all that it offers. So I am deeply saddened by the senseless mayhem that occurred here last week.

It’s hard for me to fathom all of the pain, hurt & suffering that’s been inflicted on so many by just one person.

After the murder of my beautiful baby brother Robert in 1996, I have often said that I suffered twice: once for my personal loss of a brother and fine young man, and once again when I saw the pain and suffering that my mom went through.

Families & friends are hit hard by the loss of a loved one and some family members, especially mothers and fathers are hit even harder … with initial shock followed by unimaginable grief. It is a horrible and gut-wrenching feeling.

But with faith there is hope! Prayer, meditation and reflection can have tremendous healing power. The kindness, love and support of family, friends and the community will ultimately help you get through – maybe not over – but certainly through all of this. Each and every one of those people will be your personal grief counselors in ways that are surprising, soft and beautiful. It is very healing.

Memorializing your loved ones also has tremendous therapeutic and healing effects. The grieving process is very personal and everyone chooses their way to do so, but in my case, I felt I had to write a letter to my brother. The letter later changed to a poem. Still later, I changed it to Spanish because I felt Spanish lent itself more to the types of things I wanted to say. After wrestling with it for two-years and nine months, I surprisingly found acceptance … and ultimately – a lasting inner peace.

If you are feeling anger, guilt, despair, heartbreak, and overcome with emotions, this is all normal in the aftermath of such a tragedy. Remember, you are not alone. Your family and a strong Las Vegas community … along with the rest of the civilized world is supporting you and hoping that you succeed, survive and thrive. Bullets and broken bones are no contest for a loving spirit, a soaring spirit …  the human spirit.

If your loved one is one of the 58 deceased, my heart cries with you! Las Vegas cries with you! Never let the memory of your loved one fade or dim. Keep their memory alive and bright with love and honor.

My heart … our hearts are with you!