It's been a week since the shootings in NewTown, Connecticut. And while Connecticut is miles away from Abilene, it is just as close as our living rooms and water coolers.
On Wednesday, Abilene residents gathered to mourn the children and others lost in that tragedy. Reports on the event are available online (ReporterNews and BigCountryHomepage).
I've been avoiding those stories and events. When I opened my newspaper last weekend and found the obituaries for the children, I put the paper down. I couldn't face those innocents. Those little ones were about the same age as the kids I used to visit in our elementary school. They were also the age of the grandson we lost about a year ago. The picture at the top of this page is the view from his gravesite during bluebonnet season.
Losing any loved one is hard. Losing a child is like losing the future. All the dreams and all the potential we've glimpsed is gone. And when a child is taken there's an even greater need to build something that authenticates their value. You've probably noticed that yourself. In our case it was Liam's Wells. By helping provide clean water we honor Liam's life and his love. A friend of mine lost his daughter and transmogrified* his grief into a website called "Cancer Kids."
I'll be interested to see how the country builds something good from the Newtown tragedy. Abilene isn't the only Caring Community. It will happen. I'm hoping for something more than statues in the park or laws that are little more than knee-jerk reactions. I guess I'm hoping for a change in hearts.
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*"Transmogrified" is really a word. I thought it was just something that "Calvin and Hobbes" talked about until I was writing this entry. Click this link and you can find the picture I wish I had permission to include here.
On Wednesday, Abilene residents gathered to mourn the children and others lost in that tragedy. Reports on the event are available online (ReporterNews and BigCountryHomepage).
I've been avoiding those stories and events. When I opened my newspaper last weekend and found the obituaries for the children, I put the paper down. I couldn't face those innocents. Those little ones were about the same age as the kids I used to visit in our elementary school. They were also the age of the grandson we lost about a year ago. The picture at the top of this page is the view from his gravesite during bluebonnet season.
Losing any loved one is hard. Losing a child is like losing the future. All the dreams and all the potential we've glimpsed is gone. And when a child is taken there's an even greater need to build something that authenticates their value. You've probably noticed that yourself. In our case it was Liam's Wells. By helping provide clean water we honor Liam's life and his love. A friend of mine lost his daughter and transmogrified* his grief into a website called "Cancer Kids."
I'll be interested to see how the country builds something good from the Newtown tragedy. Abilene isn't the only Caring Community. It will happen. I'm hoping for something more than statues in the park or laws that are little more than knee-jerk reactions. I guess I'm hoping for a change in hearts.
------------
*"Transmogrified" is really a word. I thought it was just something that "Calvin and Hobbes" talked about until I was writing this entry. Click this link and you can find the picture I wish I had permission to include here.
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