Caring for Crohn's & UC

A state in mourning

December 14, 2012 at 10:49 pm Rebecca K. Leave a comment

Tonight’s post will be short and unrelated to IBD.

Today, a horrific thing happened in my home state of Connecticut. This morning, a disturbed young man opened fire in an elementary school, killing 20 children and six adults. We don’t know why it happened or what caused him to kill these young children.

There are no words to adequately express how I feel about today’s shooting aside from saying that I am saddened by the loss and maddened by what occurred. I am not a mother so I cannot relate to the feeling of having a child. However, I do know that there is no worse feeling than losing a loved one, especially to circumstances beyond your control. I can only imagine how much worse it must feel to loose a young child to the insane actions of a madman.

My heart goes out to the families of those who died in today’s Newtown shooting. It aches for the children who died and also for their classmates who, at such a young age, witnessed such a gruesome sight. And my heart aches for the principal who died trying to protect her students.

I ask you all tonight to pray for the families of those who died in the shooting. Pray for their comfort, assistance, and the ability to cope with such massive grief. I ask you to pray for all the residents of the town of Newtown who had their picturesque New England town turned into a nightmare. And I ask you to pray for all the residents in Connecticut who are so saddened and grief stricken by this awful act of violence.

Tonight I will leave you with a snippet of President Obama’s remarks on the shooting.

So our hearts are broken today — for the parents and grandparents, sisters and brothers of these little children, and for the families of the adults who were lost. Our hearts are broken for the parents of the survivors as well, for as blessed as they are to have their children home tonight, they know that their children’s innocence has been torn away from them too early, and there are no words that will ease their pain.

As a country, we have been through this too many times. Whether it’s an elementary school in Newtown, or a shopping mall in Oregon, or a temple in Wisconsin, or a movie theater in Aurora, or a street corner in Chicago — these neighborhoods are our neighborhoods, and these children are our children. And we’re going to have to come together and take meaningful action to prevent more tragedies like this, regardless of the politics.

You can read the full text of the President’s remarks here.

Entry filed under: General.