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Orlando: The Death of Make Believe

By: Mark Azzara

Date:

July 13, 2016

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Flickr image by Tim Evanson

By Mark Azzara

Dear Friend,

The name Orlando is now part of the American vocabulary.

The definition now includes the following: (a.) a city in Florida that is the center of the nation’s 24^th largest metropolitan area; (b.) the scene of the nation’s largest mass murder; (c.) “Theme Park Capital of the World”; (d.) a place of unparalleled sadness and grief; (e.) a city with the nickname “City Beautiful;” (f.) ground zero for the ugliness of the risks faced by gays; (g.) home of Walt Disney World Resort, SeaWorld and Universal Studios Florida theme park; (h.) the topic of unending political debate.

Unlike Sandy Hook, Conn., where 26 children and teachers were slain, we’d all heard about Orlando before this. But the Orlando we once knew will never again be just Orlando. Play time is over for the city of make believe. And for all the rest of us, too.

All God’s blessings – Mark

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Mark Azzara

Mark Azzara spent 45 years in print journalism, most of them with the Waterbury Republican in Connecticut, where he was a features writer with a special focus on religion at the time of his retirement. He also worked for newspapers in New Haven and Danbury, Conn. At the latter paper, while sports editor, he won a national first-place writing award on college baseball. Azzara also has served as the only admissions recruiter for a small Catholic college in Connecticut and wrote a self-published book on spirituality, "And So Are You." He is active in his church and facilitates two Christian study groups for men. Azzara grew up in southern California, graduating from Cal State Los Angeles. He holds a master's degree from the University of Connecticut.

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