Thursday, December 20, 2012

Children

The events of last Friday in Newtown, Connecticut have affected me, just as I'm sure they have most of you:
shock, disbelief, anger, fear, anguish.  It is unfathomable that something like this could happen, let alone did.  I have a 5 and an 8 year old.  They go go a school with a layout very, very similar to the online photos of Sandy Hook.  My kindergartner is in that room right across the hall from the office. 

It is, as I said, beyond my comprehension that such an evil could happen in such a "safe" place in such a "safe" community.  But, I guess that's just it.  Our schools, our busses, our airports, our malls, our movie theaters, and on and on AREN'T as safe as we'd like them to be.  I'm not here to discuss gun control or legislation.  I'm not here to voice my opinion on "gun free zones," although I am slowly formulating what my idea of a solution might include.  I'm just here to say this:

Mental illness is real.  And it's hard.  It doesn't happen only to "bad" people.  It just happens to people.  Children, adults, religious and non.  In this human experience, you don't get to pick your own trials, or the trials of your own children.  I read an article shortly after the shooting, for which I will post the link below.  It is brave, insightful, and right on target.  If anything is sure to make a difference, to stop, or stem the flow of these horrific tragedies, surely it is accessible, affordable mental health that doesn't come with a scarlet letter.  



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