Eleven days until Christmas and our hearts are broken by the senseless killing of children and teachers in Sandy Hook Elementary School. Families changed forever, robbed of joy and happy memories in the most beautiful of seasons. Christmas is truly a child’s holiday. The love, the joy, the excitement -- it’s a holy time, a fun time, with Santa Claus, elves and presents.
I look at my children and I hug them tight. I gather them close to me. I don’t want to let them out of my sight. My oldest is a world away and 24 years old, but still, I want to call him, talk to him, hug him, make sure he is alright.
I don’t understand why more and more people are killing others in mass shootings. Is it lack of gun control? Is it our society that glamorizes violence? Is it because people aren’t getting the help they need or because they want to be remembered for the senseless act of killing? Perhaps it is a combination of all the above.
School years in my day and age, we never had to worry about guns. Guns were for hunting. Daddy’s guns were kept in his closet, safely tucked away in their cases, ammunition locked in his safe. On the rare occasion I got to see the gun, Daddy always said, “Guns are not toys. They are for hunting and protection, never for playing with or hurting others.” I understood and I never worried about it.
But things are different now. There are things I can’t control in this world, things I can’t explain. Hearts are breaking; families are hurting and in the midst of this season of joy, lives will never be the same.
Sending love to the families in Connecticut.
• Bridgette Crosby is a writer who lives in and loves the Queen Creek/San Tan Valley area. Reach her at bridgette@crosbycountry.com.
SculptorDad posted at 10:12 am on Sun, Dec 16, 2012.
More religious claptrap, maybe you should try critically thinking about and asking for information on the causes of this fathomable reaction to as yet unknown factors, specifically mental illness.
downtownresident posted at 11:14 am on Sun, Dec 16, 2012.
When I saw the intro, I thought Linda was at work again. Then I remembered that she probably has a gun in her purse right now.
She'd probably insist that if all the teachers and administrators were packing heat, this could have been stopped sooner.
Never mind that instead of one or two shooters on campus the police would have 50 or 60 potential shooters to clear.
Guns aren't the problem. I'd guess that these guns were locked up and legal.
Yes, it's unthinkable. Unfathomable. Insane. Kinda like an earthquake, there is just no way to predict when this will happen again.