In Memory

Our hearts are heavy with the news of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shootings in Newtown Connecticut. I cannot call it a mass shooting, because to me, it is twenty-six very separate and equally horrifying crimes against humanity. Each and every one of those lives was sacred, and each of those lives belonged to a beautiful individual who had so much more to offer the world. As a mother, I have cried bitter tears for the children who were taken so long before their time, and for the families who were so cruelly robbed of their little ones, or their sisters, daughters or mothers.

During the aftermath of such a tragedy, compassion for our brothers and sisters of the world should come first and foremost. We should all feel compelled to rally around our stricken fellow humans with love and support, to share their grief and try to help bear their immense burdens however we can. It deeply saddens me to see so many people use this source of unimaginable pain as a platform to spout their political and religious opinions.

This is not about politics. This is not about religion. This is about Charlotte, Daniel, Olivia, Josephine, Ana, Dylan, Madeleine, Catherine, Chase, Jesse, Grace, James, Emilie, Jack, Noah, Caroline, Jessica, Avielle, Benjamin, and Allison; the innocent children. This is about Rachel, Dawn, Anne Marie, Lauren, and Victoria; the heroes who died protecting their students. And it is about Nancy, a mother and victim of her own child.

We should not be sensationalizing these crimes, nor should we be plastering images of Adam Lanza across the media so that he gains postmortem celebrity status. We don't need to loudly and rudely debate gun control. We don't need to make self-righteous claims that if God were "allowed" in schools, this wouldn't have happened. We should be focusing on the precious lives lost, the mourning and grief of their families, and how we can help them eventually begin to heal from their terrible losses.

So if anyone in Newtown happens to be reading, may they know that so many people across the world are thinking of them. We mourn with you, we cry with you, we look for answers and comfort for you. We don't hug our own children without thinking of yours. Though only you can know the depths of your sorrow, you are not alone to bear it. We are here for you in any way that we can be.