Tragedy at Sandy Hook

I’ve been really busy lately working on my family slideshow that highlights our year (hence the reason I haven’t posted as much recently), but I just have to take a break to express my feelings about the horrible massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School last Friday where 20 children and six adults were killed. My mom and I were gone on Friday morning so we didn’t hear the news until later in the afternoon. It was shocking to hear the devastating news and it just left me with a sick feeling in my stomach. These mass shootings are sadly becoming more and more frequent and it makes you wonder when they will stop. 

My mom and I were talking about the shooting, trying to make sense of it, and we said that we just hope that the victims died without experiencing too much physical pain. It’s reported that some of the victims were shot up to 11 times. Being shot ONCE is bad enough, but multiple gun shots just go to add to the brutality of it all. I cannot even imagine the terror that the victims must’ve experienced. Those poor children. 

Why would a young man do something so violent? It really makes me wonder what sort of emotional turmoil was going on inside his head. These days it seems like mass shootings like this (or the movie theater shooting in Aurora, Colorado) are almost becoming somewhat of a fad with deranged people (especially teens and young adults who have mental illnesses and other emotional defects). They usually take the coward’s way out and commit suicide after their killing spree is over and it’s as if they take enjoyment in inflicting as much pain/damage on the world as they can as they go out in their own personal “blaze of glory.” 

I can’t help but think of this tragedy in the context of my nieces and nephew who are all in first grade. When I think of them and what they would’ve experienced it just breaks my heart all the more. No one should die in such a violent way, ESPECIALLY innocent, precious children. (Here are my two first grade nieces and my nephew: Ethan, Sarah and Samantha.)

A picture says a thousand words, so I thought I would end this post with some pictures that illustrate the magnitude of the devastation.

I'm glad that the community is rallying around the families of the victims and those that were affected by this tragedy. It's unfortunate that it takes something like this to bring people together, but if this helps people to moreove a little more and to be a little more kind, then I guess that's something positive that can come from this terrible situation. I just feel badly that it happened so close to Christmas because I fear it will taint Christmas for years to come and overshadow Christmas' true meaning.