Tags
Angels, B4Peace, Children, Connecticut massacre, Grief, Lost Potential, Love, Sadness
I can’t even begin to image how a town gets over the tragedy which happened in Connecticut. Families with gifts already wrapped and under the tree , or hidden, waiting for Santa to deliver them, will have to face a Christmas filled with grief and heartache, rather than joy and happiness. Parents who will dread Christmas and the memories it brings, every year. Siblings, who will always feel guilt that they are able to open their presents.. while their brother or sister can’t. Grandparents, left too bereft to continue living with any enthusiasm. Fellow classmates and teachers, living with survivor guilt and recurring nightmares. Lives irrevocably changed forever.. in the worst possible way.
I do not agree that anyone has a right to carry a gun. but I won’t get into that conversation here. Today is a day of grief and sadness.. not a time for a debate. It’s a time to reflect on the potential the world has lost. Could one of those sweet angels who were tragically killed, have found the cure to cancer? Maybe one of them would have grown up to be the first female president of the US of A. Did one little boy have the potential to end world poverty? Was one little girl destined to grow up and become a wife and mother and raise the best kids on the block? The potential the world has lost is unfathomable, immeasurable and just plain heartbreaking.
I can’t comprehend how you cope with that much loss. We have had many mass shootings over the years. I know how Australia was affected by the Hoddle Street Massacre in 1987. A friend of mine is a survivor of that tragedy and is still deeply disturbed by it today. In 1996, we were completely rocked by the Port Arthur tragedy with the deaths of 35 people.. two being little children. The following outpouring of grief and the memory of those two sweet little girls was enough for Australians on the whole to demand gun reform.
I am angry.. I don’t understand why the gunman couldn’t have shot himself first.. leaving the children and others to live. I don’t understand why people want to carry a gun in the first place. I don’t understand how anyone can post vitriolic comments about it on websites just to get a reaction. I don’t understand why man feels the need to turn on man. I wish everyone of these cowards who shoot innocent victims in these ghastly attacks were never born. But they are.. and for whatever reason, their brain wiring has short circuited and they leave a legacy of despair, hatred and loss.
I cannot understand what goes through a person’s mind when they wake up one morning and decide to massacre a group of innocent people and nor do I want to. Have we become a species that no longer cares….. a world of people who no longer give a damn about their fellow man? I don’t believe so. I believe the majority of the world is good and decent.. and only a few have the capacity and want to destroy another soul. I cannot accept that this is what we are becoming. It is only a small minority… not the majority of the world.
We have to assume that people are good.. We have to assume that people are honest, caring and trustworthy. If we don’t believe that, what is the point in living? People, generally are wired to love and nurture. My heart truly believes that. The outpouring of grief and sympathy around the world is testimony to it. What makes a person snap, I can’t say!
So, to the little angels we lost.. the teachers who died protecting them…. the families of those tragically taken…. the survivors…. the police and emergency services who attended and to the people of Connecticut on the whole…. our hearts are with you… we cry for you….. we wish we could turn back the hands of time and stop this tragedy. But all we can do is send you our love, strength and compassion. It doesn’t seem enough…
Hug the people you love. Give the gift of praise. Tell someone you love them. Life’s too short not to. And we never know when that simple pleasure may be taken away from us…Today, happy eludes me.. so please take care of you and your loved ones…… May you be lifted up on angels wings.
Livvy
Livonne 
My brother and sister-in-law’s two boys went to Sandy Hook Elementary and they all still live in Newtown. The boys are still in school there but the youngest of them is now in middle school. I honestly don’t think the shock will ever pass but there is a large group of people there who have dedicated themselves to addressing the problem of gun violence. Given the recent Senate vote, it is obviously going to be a long haul.
Yes, I think it will be a very long haul, sadly. I still think about it often with great sadness. Those children who were uninjured physically will still carry permanent emotional scars around with them. I do hope your family can find some semblance of peace eventually. Thank you for taking the time to read my blog. I’m glad those affected read my message of support
Your blog nearly brought tears to my eyes – beautifully and sensitively written.
thank you.. such a sad time for humanity
Beautifully written. It is terribly sad, most of us get through it by having faith that God’s plan is bigger than any of us can comprehend. I know that doesn’t always help in the immediate, but it can in the long term if we allow it.
I am conflicted about the whole gun carrying question, but I have heard good arguments on both sides. Please remember, these people that perform atrocities with guns are not legal gun owners; they are sick people who would find a gun it that is their intent. Gun control doesn’t stop people like this gunman; if he wants to do harm, he will find a way.
That is all I’m going to say about this subject. Tragedies like this one always give file to the political rhetoric, the real focus is the lives that were damaged and what we can do to help, if not just pray.
Thanks for sharing.
I believe there could be done much more than pray.Too many people can get their hands on guns!!! This is what the whole world should do something about!
Love and all my sympathy for the ones who grieve.
Such a sad time 😦
I am from Geelong, my friend teaches at this school…I cannot believe I personally know someone involved in this tragedy, which will take years or never, for those affected to recover.
It is incomprehensible that man could do this.
Thank you Livvie for posting.
Anita
It’s just an awful tragedy and one that need never have happened. I do hope your friend can try to put her life back together again. Just too heartbreaking 😦
Honestly. I couldn’t have said it better. Excellently put. I love you for this post. Thank you very much for sharing your thoughts on it and instead of going on a rant about gun violence and such, you just touched the victimized part, and reflect on the what if those kids lived, what would their futures be like. I just made my blog and I am already grateful for it. ❤
Thank you Riya.. It was so hard to write.. so hard to imagine… The world loses so much everytime one of these atrocities happen.
It was absolutely a heart breaking thin to have happened so I agree. Its one of those type events that happened that the world takes a collective sigh. But on that same token, this type of thing happens worldwide every day. That’s the tragic side of when violence happens. When children are a causality. Children are our future so when they are gone and turned into angels, its devastating.
Beautiful words Liv … RIP little ones xxx
Thanks Wende.. What a sad day!