A Few Words

I woke up this morning thinking about the tragedy at Sandy Hook and the families who were robbed of their loved ones only days before Christmas, and wanted to share some of my thoughts.

Having recently graduated from college (ok, maybe 2 1/2 years isn't that recent!), I have many friends who are now teachers.  In addition to friends, Drew and I both have a number of family members in the teaching profession.  After hearing about the deaths of the young teachers at Sandy Hook, as well as the principal and a number of other adults, my first thoughts were those of my friends and family.  This could just as easily have happened at their schools.  And I can tell you, without even a second thought, that every single one of them would have done the same thing as those brave teachers who lost their lives protecting their students.  This makes me both proud, and afraid for them.  I pray that they never have to face an event as horrific as this one, and that their commitment to educating the young minds of our country will never put them in the line of fire.  That being said, I also pray for the families of those teachers who were lost, and I hope they know how thankful we all are for the sacrifice that their loved ones made.

I pray for the families who lost children in this tragedy.  I cannot imagine sending your child to school and not being able to pick them up at the end of the day.  For the families who were able to pick their children up that day, I hope that this traumatic event does not scar their young minds for the rest of their lives, and that they grow up still able to see the good in the world.

Of course after something like this happens, there are always questions.  Questions of blame, and questions of motive.  Do we blame the guns that the shooter used?  Did he play too many violent video games as a child?  Did his family see this coming and fail to stop it?  In my opinion, the only one to really blame is the shooter himself.  Sure, if guns did not exist he would not have been able to use them in the shooting.  Maybe if he played less violent games as a kid, he would not have had such violent tendencies.  But if someone is sick enough to consciously make a decision to walk into a school with malicious intentions, I think he would have found some other way to do it.  As for motive, what does it matter?  No "reason" on Earth can justify what was done, and no "reason" can bring back those who were lost.  There is no "reason" that could make sense of this senseless crime.

In conclusion, my heart goes out to every family in Newtown and Sandy Hook.  I am so sorry that this happened to you.  I thank all of the teachers at the school for counting the lives of their children more important than their own.  And I pray that one day, you are all able to heal.

If you would like to donate to the families of the victims, check out this fundraiser:

Newtown Strong. Newtown Proud. 

Proceeds go to funeral expenses of the families, a town memorial fund, and a town scholarship fund.