Prayers for the families of the shooting victims in Connecticut

[phony 0]

“A town that loses its children loses its meaning.”

Russell Banks, The Sweet Hereafter

 

The news brings us the now all-too-familiar sight of parents and children numbed by today’s events. They describe their experiences matter-of-factly, as if recounting something experienced in a dream, or witnessed through the detachment offered by a camera lens or television screen. Very few show any tangible emotion beyond shock. Their eyes fix on some middle-distance beyond our seeing or comprehension. “Not here. This is something that happens somewhere else,” they say distractedly, their minds clearly somewhere else, as if the words had the power to insulate them from the unimaginable reality of the situation. My eyes glaze and the words recede into the background—these sights and sounds have become clichéd at this point—and my mind wanders to all those beautifully wrapped presents glittering unopened under Christmas trees that have suddenly become desolate.

 

In eleven days, no one will be there to un-wrap them.

 

No one will experience the wonder or joy that they were meant to impart.

 

No laughs, or shrieks of delight will sound out through those joyless homes.

 

No smiles, no hugs or kisses of thanks, will be exchanged.

 

No photographs or videos will be taken to remember them by.

 

I wonder if Christmas will ever come again to Newtown, Connecticut . . .

[NDhoosier 1,232]

No words can express my disbelief and rage toward this man... No words can express how sorry I feel for the families who lost a child or loved one.

[GunSlinger 28]

The shooters are a pair of lowlife cowards.

 

Absolutely sickening.

[D Fence 166]

While we're at it, after saying a prayer for the victims and families, let's say a prayer for all of us. This devastation can happen anywhere any time.

 

Incredibly disturbed by this.

[Irish_Convert 1]

So very sad. My prayers go out to the victims, their friends, families and all those, especially the children, that were witnesses to this tragedy. God help all involved. I wouldn't want to be one of the first responders to the scene or an investigator by any measure because I know I would need counseling for the rest of my life.

 

There are no words.

[WilsonR1282 0]

Like Smitty, I live in the area of Sandy Hook (Danbury to be precise) and the harsh reality hit the area very hard. My sister in law is a Kindergarden teacher in Newtown only in another school. There were a lot of "what if's" being thought about when the shooting occurred but we were lucky that she and her class were ok. My brother and her also live in Sandy Hook, basically a 5 min drive from the school. It's sickening to think someone could be deranged enough to do this to innocent children.

 

The outpour of support in Newtown has been great though. I overhead a volunteer firefighter for Sandy Hook say he has met individuals from China, Japan, California, Australia etc... the list goes on to pay their respects and help in any possible way. I still have yet to visit town center. Need to make my way down there to pay my respects....