Angel Colon

It was dark. I couldn't sleep and those were the nights I prayed the most to God. I felt like the hospital was my refuge. I felt like I was safe after being there for three weeks. I had panic attacks thinking, “Is living out in the world going to be the same? Am I safe in the world again? When everyone was sleeping, I would be up all night, praying to God, fighting with God. How is it possible to forgive? How is it possible to move forward from something like this? I will never forget. But in order for me to do well for myself, for my family, in order to lift other people up, I want them to be able to at least talk to me, someone who went through tragedy. And forgiveness was part of the process. When you think of forgiveness, there is a specific thing that you have to forgive. There's a specific person you have to forgive. So yes, it was in my head, this guy who did this. I forgive you. If I regret forgiving, that anger is going to build up inside and that's just bad. I just keep repeating this in my head: Love, hope, positivity. Move forward. You'll be fine. ****************** Angel Colon is a survivor of the Orlando Pulse nightclub shooting. *Interviews are edited and condensed *Tag @dearworld on any social/digital use. We are @dearworld on Instagram/Twitter and we are at *Facebook.com/dearworld *Credit Dear World/Daymon Gardner for portrait