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Heartbroken And Horrified

This afternoon, I will pick up my seven year old son from school and tell him about the heartbreaking, horrific, senseless tragedy that took place in a school similar to his, in a neighbouring country, in a city that now has to come to terms with this unimaginable tragedy.

Edited to add: When I saw my son's smiling face after school I could not bring myself to say anything to him. Instead, I just hugged and kissed him and let him run off to play with his friends, keeping my eyes on him the entire time.

Tonight I will once again be thankful for this day, and I will hug my children tight. Every day is precious. Every moment we have should be cherished.

28 people dead... 20 of them small children. This is what happened today in an elementary school in Connecticut. Beautiful, innocent, perfect children, in school—in school—shot dead by an evil person, shot dead with weapons that should not exist, since it has been proven, time and time again, that guns do more harm than good. I've written before about gun control, and now more than ever, something needs to change. And fast.

As a wise women said online today: "America, I don't give a rat's ass about your Right to Bear Arms. You need to stop the insanity now -- no one is safer in your country for having a gun. Your daily news proves it."

Every time something like this happens—Columbine, shootings in malls, snipers in D.C., movie theatre shootings, on and on and on—my faith in all that is good diminishes.

How can any of us feel safe in our normal day-to-day activities like going to work and dropping our children off at school, knowing that's where they'll be safe?  How can we protect our children from the evil that is out there? What can we do now that this tragedy has taken place, except offer our thoughts and prayers to the victims and their poor, poor grieving families?

I wish I had answers.
I wish I could do more.
I wish I could turn back time.

I wish these parents didn't have to live with this nightmare, I wish the children didn't have to suffer.

 I wish guns didn't exist.

We don't need any more stories like this. We don't need more senseless tragedy at the hands of some unrighteous, unknown, crazy person who took it upon himself to destroy lives for no reason at all. All because he had access to a couple of guns.

I've cried on and off since Friday, I've hugged my children tighter, and I'm just overwhelmed with grief over this nightmare of a story.

My heart is heavy. Less than two weeks before Christmas.

I'm heartbroken.

Thoughts and prayers going out to a much-loved fellow blogger, who lost her nephew Noah in this senseless tragedy. You can also head over to Noah's Art of Hope Fund to make a donation.

"The funds received will be used to provide counseling services, education and basic needs for the children at this time of grief. Noah leaves behind his twin sister and three other siblings."

Bless all the children and their families.... may something like this never, ever happen again.

Comments

Anonymous said…
It's unbeliebable..poor kids! How tragic and wasteful and how horrified they must have been. Poor parents!
Brittany said…
I am horrified as well and hoping hy husband will pick up my kindergartner now. Like, right now. I don't understand why we are so lax on guns. They are not protecting the people here. I don't believe that for one second. If places where innocent people work and learn and play are not armed then why can people just buy a gun and walk into them. I know, this is not the day to talk gun control, but dammit living here no one ever wants to really talk about it. I am writing this is anger and heart break and I will focus more on this in my writing in the future because it just makes me so angry and on days like this, heartbroken. Hug your babies like I will and thank God they are safe. Also, I will be praying that something happens to stop these shootings!
Japolina said…
I'm about to pick up my sons from school. I don't even know what to say to them. It is heartbreaking.
Jen said…
I'm with you. I am SO with you. My husband texted me as he sat in the bathroom at work crying. I told him I'd pick him and the girls up immediately. I just want them all home. (He said not to, so I wait.)

So heartbreaking. I just ... I have no words.
Lainey-Paney said…
It really is heartbreaking....

And perhaps it is a natural, and very short step to go from this situation to the platform of gun control. However, access to guns within a nation is not the only contributing factor in this situation. Because someone has access to a gun does not mean that they will shoot up an elementary school. Even in China where guns are illegal, there was just recently an attack on a grade school, where the attacker used a knife. Banning knives in America is not practical. To blame weapons or access to weapons is to put too narrow a focus on a much bigger situation and minimize the other contributing factors: such as the identification and treatment of mental illness in this country (The US) as well as in China...

I'm not saying that easy access to guns is not a problem. I just think that if a person truly wants to enact violence on a group of innocents, they will find a way, as the Chinese man did by wielding a knife.

...I wouldn't say that's my 2 cents....I'd say that's about 1/2 a penny of what I think....
Tiffany said…
A friend and I thought it would be an excellent idea to have Taco Night in Memory of Noah Pozner, and the other 26 victims of the Newtown tragedy. There is no set date, but just for families to find a time to spend with their children and cherish the moment. Here is a link to the facebook event :)
http://tinyurl.com/cgtpedm
Loukia said…
Tiffany, thank you for sharing that.
You are a gentle soul Loukia. And I very much relate to your feelings of gratitude. I'm ever aware of the uncertain future. I always think about my own feelings of gratitude in terms of "this one more day." Much love to you!