18 Little Universes
On my to-do list today was to post a blog entry about my writing news. I can't in good conscience post happy things when the news in Connecticut today is so bleak. I was at the zoo with Bug this morning, spending a fun time outside in the beautiful weather after days (weeks, honestly) of cramming to meet editorial deadlines. Then I got a text from Threestripe:
"There's been a school shooting in Newtown."
Then the calls and other texts started coming. Hugs from people I talk to all the time, or who I don't talk to very often. Tragedy hit Connecticut, and even though I live miles from Newtown, I could already feel the impact. Driving home from the zoo, I heard it on the radio. An elementary school. Twenty-seven dead. At home, the news got even worse. A kindergarten teacher and her class were the primary targets of the attack.
Kindergarteners.
Of the 27 dead, 18 are children, elementary students, killed by an adult who invaded their place of learning and stole their lives and the security of their peers. Something we would frequently say in the myth courses I took and later was the teaching assistant for is that each person is a universe.
That's 18 little universes that will never get the chance to grow up.
I don't know them -- I didn't even really know where Newtown was on the map until today -- but I weep for them and for their families. And I hope that, rather than debating gun control once again, we can all just take a moment today to be thankful for our families, and the children in our lives, and share the sorrow of the people of Newtown.
"There's been a school shooting in Newtown."
Then the calls and other texts started coming. Hugs from people I talk to all the time, or who I don't talk to very often. Tragedy hit Connecticut, and even though I live miles from Newtown, I could already feel the impact. Driving home from the zoo, I heard it on the radio. An elementary school. Twenty-seven dead. At home, the news got even worse. A kindergarten teacher and her class were the primary targets of the attack.
Kindergarteners.
Of the 27 dead, 18 are children, elementary students, killed by an adult who invaded their place of learning and stole their lives and the security of their peers. Something we would frequently say in the myth courses I took and later was the teaching assistant for is that each person is a universe.
That's 18 little universes that will never get the chance to grow up.
I don't know them -- I didn't even really know where Newtown was on the map until today -- but I weep for them and for their families. And I hope that, rather than debating gun control once again, we can all just take a moment today to be thankful for our families, and the children in our lives, and share the sorrow of the people of Newtown.