Once in a lifetime. Generally said in relation to an opportunity or event,

this is a phrase that calls to attention the rare and unique events which come only once in our entire span of existence on the earth, never to come again.

Examples could be having your first kid, attending a long-awaited music festival that happens to have a lineup from all your favorite bands, or even

something like graduating from high school. Others could be smaller, such as receiving a job

offer of unparalleled advantage, writing your first piece of music, or finishing your first

creative project as part of a new hobby. Others could be on a cosmic scale, like seeing a comet that visits the Earth

only once every 300 years, watching the Northern Lights coast over the skies of the lower

U.S. or seeing a solar eclipse in all its glory reach totality right over your front doorstep. These

are all magnificent occurrences, things that people will only see truly once in a lifetime.

These events come and pass in a moment, with that brief window of time being all they have to cherish the event before it passes, leaving you with just the memory.

When people say once in a lifetime, they generally mean an experience, opportunity, or event that's positive.

It evokes a sense of awe and wonder, leaving a lasting memory that one can only look back on through photographs or dreams.

But what if the phrase wasn't so positive?

What if, instead of the memory of seeing the solar eclipse above your home, you carried the

memory of something so horrible that it shook you to the bone to recall it.

What if instead of hoping the event came again, you hope that you'd never see its likes again, so as long as you live?

The older generation in Houston, Texas, certainly knows this feeling.

The event with which they had a front row seat was certainly once in a lifetime, but just as

certainly not in the way that the phrase is meant to be interpreted.

In their own hometown, something was discovered that proved to be vile and horrific, something

that shatters hearts and boggles the mind.

It was a crime so terrible, so disgusting, that it was truly once in a lifetime.

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