LEWISTON, Maine -- Ben Dyer was shot five times during Maine’s deadliest mass shooting, when a gunman killed 18 people at a bowling alley and a bar. A year later, Dyer and fiancée Keela Smith want to turn the worst day of their lives into the best. As Lewiston prepares to mark the grim first anniversary Friday, Dyer and Smith are looking ahead to the second with hope.
Dyer proposed to Smith this spring, bolstered by a new outlook on life and determined to not hold back. They’ve chosen Oct. 25 as next year’s wedding date, the same day as the shooting.
They want to reclaim the day. “So that we can always have it be a good reminder for us. Something that we don’t dread every year, and that doesn’t break our hearts every year,” Smith said.
“Because it will be ‘Oh, that’s our wedding day. That’s the day that we took back, and we made it ours.’” The couple, both 48, are among dozens of people directly affected by the shooting who are still trying to find ways to work through the physical and emotional trauma.
For many, the anniversary is bringing back unwelcome memories. “I have nightmares every day,” said Megan Vozzella, 39, whose husband Steve Vozzella was killed at Schemengees Bar & Grille. “I’m always going to have nightmares.
As we get closer and closer, I don’t sleep well.” Megan says her husband managed to crawl outside before he died. Thinking about him in pain and trying to hold on is what gives her the nightmares.
Vozzella, who is d.
