"A way to heal each other:" Orlando focuses on growing stronger in wake of mass shooting

ORLANDO -- With little time and even less preparation, a memorial formed Monday, June 13th in downtown Orlando -- just a day after 49 people were killed and dozens more wounded in a mass shooting at a gay nightclub.

Trish Gordon

Trish Gordon had to come home to Orlando -- and she could not do it alone. After a weekend at the beach, Gordon simply needed to be home.

"The whole way home, it was terrible -- and listening to all the radio stations," Gordon said.

Gordon said after Sunday's tragedy, Orlando is a place that just doesn't feel the same.

"This is too hard for me," said Gordon. "One of the boys was a football player at Edgewater. One of the first people shot was a couple walking from another club -- and he died. And my son was a football player. How do you tell a seven-year-old that 'your world's not safe?' What do you say?"

At the center of Orlando's downtown -- a growing memorial.

Rob Modesto

"It's tough for me. I don't like to get into, like, that. I like to take it in from the outside," said Rob Modesto.

Modesto reflected Monday from a distance.

"This is probably the worst weekend in the history of Orlando. It's terrible," Modesto said.

Healing takes time -- and people who have come to Orlando in the wake of this tragedy know this is a process that is just getting started.

"We want people to have a way to heal each other, and themselves," said one of the memorial organizers.

Orlando memorial