Bridger and Lindsey Frampton: The Faith That Outlasted the Flames in Michigan Pt. 2

On September 28th, Bridger Frampton was in the parking lot of his church in Grand Blanc, Michigan, when a car crashed into the building and a shooter opened fire. He was shot in the back, intubated, and unconscious for days. His wife, Lindsey, spent that time in a state of shock, moving between the hospital and their five children, the youngest just six months old. By 10 p.m. that night, Lindsey’s mother had arrived from Utah. “No one’s like your own mom,” Lindsey says. “I was able to let my guard down when she got here and process what had just happened.”

Grief and Gratitude Coexisting

In the weeks after the shooting, Bridger says he learned a phrase that became central to his recovery: grief and gratitude can coexist. He credits the family of Pat and Kitty Howard—the couple killed in the attack—with helping him understand this. Their children and friends reached out to him, and he witnessed them testifying of the peace they found in the Savior and the reassurance of the resurrection. “They’re still aching and working through their grief,” Bridger says, “but their examples are bright.” He also notes that one of the daughters of Bishop Hayden forgave the shooter in the moment, and a friend named Benjamin, who was also hit and spent a long time in the hospital, has done the same. For Bridger, these acts of forgiveness were deeply Christlike and helped him process his own a