Newtown Massacre

When my son came home from school Friday I hugged him tight. Then I yelled at him for being a brat, then I hugged him some more.  That pattern has repeated itself for the last few days. At the bottom of this post you'll find some useful links if you want to do more than hug your child.


You can't turn on a TV program right now without hearing something akin to "Our hearts and prayers go out to those affected by the events in Newtown, Connecticut." I'm not going to bore anyone with any such message. The words are empty, void of any meaning. I'm not saying people aren't sincere in their condolences, just that it doesn't much matter if they are or not.  A parent who just lost their 1st Grader doesn't care if your heart goes out to them. Not right now anyway.

I also get pretty frustrated when some reporter uses a phrase like "trying to make sense of it all". There's no sense to be made. There's no greater meaning, no silver lining, no wider perspective. What happened is not subjective, it can only be viewed as reality.


When I first heard the awful news I cried. I've never done that before. I didn't cry after 9/11, OK City, Columbine, not even after the Virginia Tech shootings and those were only about 20 minutes away from where I live. I certainly had an emotional reaction to the events, but now I have children, two boys. One of them is in 2nd grade. Parents are always worrying for their kids, so when something like this happens it's far too easy to imagine. It's that imagination that overwhelmed me.


The Newtown tragedy could get worse. That town is engulfed in sadness, and sadness leads people to do awful things, both to themselves and others. Thankfully, there's some good people who are trying to help. Organizations are bringing in counselors for free. There's nothing to keep people from hurting, but counseling and mental health services can at least help them cope with the pain.

Here's some organizations that are helping which you can donate to:

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• Newtown Youth and Family Services
• United Way's Sandy Hook School Support Fund
• Newtown Parent Connection
• The Red Cross