COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — Sunday was a day of sorrow, support, and solidarity outside Club Q as hundreds of people gathered in the parking lot to honor the five lives lost on this day one year ago.
“It simply was just a normal night at Club Q,” club owner Matthew Haynes said. “Then out of nowhere, in one hate-filled act lasting less than one minute, five beautiful people lost their lives, 17 people injured, and a community changed forever.”
The area outside Club Q has been decorated with the names and faces of the five victims: Daniel Aston, Derrick Rump, Ashley Paugh, Raymond Green Vance, and Kelly Loving.
Michael Anderson was working at the bar the night of the shooting.
“Many of us here today are survivors of that night,” Anderson said. “This building is a reminder of our greatest nights spent together but also our most horrific night together.”
On the one-year mark of the shooting, Jeff and Sabrina Aston visited the spot where they lost their son, Daniel Aston.
“I don’t feel very strong, personally,” Sabrina said. “Lately, it’s just been day by day.”
The Astons were the only parents who spoke at the one-year remembrance ceremony. Jeff shared this poem he wrote for his son:
What can I do now that you’re gone
Now that you’ve moved to the great beyond
My bicycle wheel lost its spokes
No one’s around to laugh at my dad jokes
You lit up the room with your smile and your wit
You and Club Q made a good fit
But random bullets from an angry man
Took away all your dreams and plans
Now all that love you must make a new start
With your light to guide us within our hearts
Jeff is a musician and said his son was a poet. His wife Sabrina encouraged him to share the poem with others. Jeff said as he was reading it out loud in front of the hundreds of supporters, he knew Daniel was with him.
“We just miss Daniel, and there are things that trigger memories,” he said.
“Daniel was such an outgoing, loving person,” Sabrina said. “He made friends with everybody. Club Q was good because that’s how they became a family.”
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