\n\t\t\t\t\t\tFamilies, survivors, and first responders gathered Friday night at First United Methodist Church in downtown Orlando to honor the lives lost and those forever impacted by the Pulse nightclub tragedy. The church dimmed its lights and lit candles as attendees remembered the 49 angels. Their names were read aloud, some by loved ones. “Our son, Shane Evan Tomlinson,” one person said. “My uncle Jerry Wright,” another shared. A bell rang for each of the 49 victims. In the room were family members who lost loved ones. “I think about the way he could light up a room without even trying,” Myreanna Bebe said of her brother, Jason Benjamin Josaphat. First responders who worked to save lives that night were also present. “I drive past the Pulse nightclub to and from work every single day, so I’m constantly reminded of that day and what Orlando went through,” said Dr. Michael Cheatham, a trauma surgeon at Orlando Regional Medical Center. Survivors of the tragedy were among those in the pews. “It feels both like a lifetime and no time at all,” said Brandon Wolf. Wolf survived the shooting. His best friend didn’t. “Grief doesn’t follow a timeline,” Wolf said. He recalled how a simple smell Friday morning reminded him of his friend who died 10 years ago to the day. “That is both the cost and the power of grief because while it’s painful and hurts in that moment, it’s also a reminder of what you had,” Wolf said. For an hour and a half Friday night, survivors, families, and friends found a space to share their grief and also found moments of hope. “You step into a space like this \u2014 beautiful music playing as if we’re in a collective hour-and-a-half-long prayer \u2014 and you’re reminded that there is good in the world and that love always wins,” Wolf said. Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer promised the community would continue to remember the 49 angels. He said construction on the permanent Pulse memorial should begin in September.>>Video below: Orlando Mayor Dyer, Commissioner Sheehan speak at 10-year Pulse remembrance ceremony\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\tORLANDO, Fla. \u2014 \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
Families, survivors, and first responders gathered Friday night at First United Methodist Church in downtown Orlando to honor the lives lost and those forever impacted by the Pulse nightclub tragedy. <\/p>\n
The church dimmed its lights and lit candles as attendees remembered the 49 angels. Their names were read aloud, some by loved ones. <\/p>\n
“Our son, Shane Evan Tomlinson,” one person said. <\/p>\n
“My uncle Jerry Wright,” another shared. <\/p>\n
A bell rang for each of the 49 victims. <\/p>\n
In the room were family members who lost loved ones. <\/p>\n
“I think about the way he could light up a room without even trying,” Myreanna Bebe said of her brother, Jason Benjamin Josaphat. <\/p>\n
First responders who worked to save lives that night were also present. <\/p>\n
“I drive past the Pulse nightclub to and from work every single day, so I’m constantly reminded of that day and what Orlando went through,” said Dr. Michael Cheatham, a trauma surgeon at Orlando Regional Medical Center. <\/p>\n
Survivors of the tragedy were among those in the pews. <\/p>\n
“It feels both like a lifetime and no time at all,” said Brandon Wolf. <\/p>\n
Wolf survived the shooting. His best friend didn’t. <\/p>\n
“Grief doesn’t follow a timeline,” Wolf said. <\/p>\n
He recalled how a simple smell Friday morning reminded him of his friend who died 10 years ago to the day. <\/p>\n
“That is both the cost and the power of grief because while it’s painful and hurts in that moment, it’s also a reminder of what you had,” Wolf said. <\/p>\n
For an hour and a half Friday night, survivors, families, and friends found a space to share their grief and also found moments of hope. <\/p>\n
“You step into a space like this \u2014 beautiful music playing as if we’re in a collective hour-and-a-half-long prayer \u2014 and you’re reminded that there is good in the world and that love always wins,” Wolf said. <\/p>\n
Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer promised the community would continue to remember the 49 angels. He said construction on the permanent Pulse memorial should begin in September.<\/p>\n
>>Video below: Orlando Mayor Dyer, Commissioner Sheehan speak at 10-year Pulse remembrance ceremony<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Families, survivors, and first responders gathered Friday night at First United Methodist Church in downtown Orlando to honor…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":306006,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[139,141,140],"class_list":["post-306005","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-orlando","tag-orlando","tag-orlando-headlines","tag-orlando-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/306005","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=306005"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/306005\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/306006"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=306005"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=306005"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=306005"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}