Shootings
in Connecticut
It
doesn't seem like the day to write clever quotes. I lay awake in the
night thinking about the families of those little children who were
shot yesterday in Connecticut. What a terrible shock that
must have been for each of their parents and siblings. What a horrifying blow to that community.
And then, I
thought about all the children in war zones who have been living with
this kind of terror day and night for years—children in Iraq, in
Afghanistan, in Syria and Pakistan and everywhere else that bullets
are flying in the name of freedom and oppression. Children who are caught in
the middle of wars the adults around them are fighting.
I
also heard a statistic yesterday that shocked me: there have been 150
people killed in mass slayings in America, while the total number of
homicides in the last year alone is 15,000—and counting. Can this
be true? Hard to believe, isn't it. This isn't Syria, we say. We are
a peaceful people. Aren't we?
My
nephew died on Thanksgiving day at the age of five--a kindergarten child like the ones shot yesterday. He did not die from gun
violence, but from a defective heart. Even so, his death was
unexpected and sudden. His heart just stopped while he was playing outside with his
friends. I can't begin to describe the extent of the devastation his
death caused in my family and in the families of the children who
witnessed it. That happened in 1974, and not a Thanksgiving has passed
since that I don't think about him and about that day. This Christmas
will be the same for the children, and teachers and parents of Sandy
Hook Elementary School. It will be a sad and anxious time.
Let
this be the event that once and for all causes Americans to consider
our stance on gun control. We have to think about it. We have to be
able to talk about it sanely. And, by all means, keep the community
of Sandy Hook in your thoughts and prayers this Christmas and beyond.
In
the spirit,
Jane
1 comment:
As a bereaved parent, I know the life-long agony of losing a child. I do not know the horror of losing a child to the murderous intent of another human being.
Still, our children are gone. Whether from war, insanity, illness or the misfortune of being on the wrong road at the wrong time.
I feel compelled to take action, to try to do something, to act in the aftermath of yesterday's violence.
My sister sent me this petition and I signed. Jane, if you'd rather not post this, just take my comment down.
But here it is, petitioning the government to take action to enact gun control.
In peace and love and wretched sadness:
http://wh.gov/RN6U
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