Dear reader – it is hard to believe 2012 swept through and out so quickly. The latter half of the year sped up so fast, especially once Superstorm Sandy blew through the metro-NY area, ravaging the local area. Then the holidays commenced, after a salvaged Halloween, with Thanksgiving starting the year end holiday chaos.
My role as co-class mother at Japanese school certainly did not help with my time allocation and management…
Yet, for a brief moment in 2012, time stood still as the report of the horrific Sandy Hook school shootings came to me, as I was rushing from work to the company holiday gathering.
Uncontrollable tears welled. My heart ached as the news reporters, at time, crying themselves, spoke of the innocent lives lost.
Twenty innocent, hopeful, inspirational spirits were viciously taken – with their six teachers trying to shield and protect them. A mother, whose love of a son couldn’t possibly foresee the horrific and tragic outcome of her hobby collection… As much as I tried, I couldn’t stop thinking of these innocent children – the ages of my oldest daughter, being mowed down by the violent and senseless act of a troubled man. I wanted to scream, “what have you done?”….knowing millions of voices would be piercing the same thick blanket of pain, disbelief and horror in the same manner, with no end result.
I do not pretend to understand the indescribable pain and suffering these families and friends are feeling. I do not know what it is like to bury a child, and I pray that I never will.
Perhaps those of us left behind in this world are given an assignment, a legacy, to inject hope, positivity, humanity, humility into a society rapidly losing ground to a world focussed on instant and material self-gratification, the numbing of our emotions, our sensibilities?
I have seen a beloved friend grieve the loss of her soulmate on 9/11. She grieved for many years, and although she has found happiness, I know that day will always remain in her heart. This incident brought me back to the emotions brought upon watching my girlfriend’s heart broken journey. My heart goes out to those affected…
May 2013 bring positive healing to a wounded and grieving world.
Eating Battlezone 