I know that on the other side of darkness…
…is light.
I’m just not able to make that turn yet.
My tears won’t fall and I am numb with grief for the families of the victims in Newton. Somehow I was doing pretty well until last night because I just couldn’t fully understand what happened. And then I did.
How is everyone doing?
I am sending prayers of Love and Strength. I bet you are too.
PS. Big Little Wolf has provided a heads up about this excellent article by Nicholas Kristof in the New York Times that offers some realistic possibilities for gun control.
Me too, Ann. I know that I keep walking in to rooms and forgetting why I was there. My heart goes to the family and friends.
Heather, I was out this morning for awhile. Everyone is trying to carry on, but you can feel that our
hearts are broken. Broken for these families, broken for all the lives that have been altered in such an
awful way. You know that I lost a child – so I really know what they are going through. There are no
words that can adequately describe the immense grief. I cannot watch television or read the newspapers.
I have signed on to some gun control measures. Every country has the mentally ill. My country doesn't
care who has assault weapons. They are designed to kill people – that is their only purpose. We must
follow the example of Great Britain after the tragedy at Dunblane, where tiny children were murdered.
They passed laws immediately. It has never happened again. Dear God, help me to assist this in some
small way so this will never happen again. Thank you for listening and sharing our enormous grief.
Love,
Patty
Thank you, dear Heather, for this post. It is important for us to voice our horror and our sorrow to each other (rather than trying to feel part of a community by watching television coverage) and then to work together to do all we can to prevent any more mass shootings or gun murder. Banning assault weapons and ammunition, and imposing strict safety measures on the possessors or any firearm, will be a start, but far more than that will be required. For now, though, we grieve together. I appreciate the opportunity to do that with the Lost in Arles community.
That's exactly my thoughts too Heather, the right to bear arms was from such a very different time, so far removed from now. I can understand how they felt that was a right in that time, with what had gone on before. But that is not now. It is a long, long time ago and the world has moved in oh so many ways to a better place.
It's the complete pointlessness of it all that leaves me so sad. But then, it wasn't about logic: this was a disturbed mind where the usual checks and balances of our moral compasses were just void. Nitch. So many questions, so few answers which are not confronting. And meanwhile, I keep thinking of all those families for whom the Christmas season will forever be a empty one, filled with memories and "what if" questions instead. They truly need our special thoughts now. xx
…in dark days… we shall light a kindle, thinking about all the families who lost their beloved ones, every where in the world.
Let's keep our hope up for a better world.
karin
Thank you for this post Heather, and for your beautiful images and reminder. I've spent the past few days in a fog of sorrow, disbelief and anger — and the 24-hour news cycle certainly hasn't helped. I hope our country can find a way forward, with peace, even though today it seems impossible.
Thank you ladies. It is too early to tell. The grandmother and son flew East for the funeral. We are trying to help the lady and her two young children here as best we can. They are setting up a fund to help their relatives (Noah's parents.) I will write about this on my blog as soon as I get more info. I am thinking it might actually be a good thing my French MIL is flying in on Thursday. When Noah's French grandma returns to our neighborhood, we will certainly have her over… Thank you for your support.
Jackie, that is exactly the same experience that Remi and I had on 9/11. I was in Paris, on my last visit before moving from Manhattan. Remi had already found our new apartment but we had so little in it. We had spent the day in town and it was lovely. We came home to a panicked phone message from my Mom and as we had no tv, had to rely on the radio to decipher what had happened. In some ways, this tragedy reminds me of the other. In that it is just too terrible to understand. That it has brought our nation to its knees in sadness.
I know that your Faith is helping you through and helping others too. I tried to write that but it just came out trite. No matter what our beliefs are, I know that intention does help. And yes, I am furious as well at how much of the media is handling such a horrific tragedy but perhaps they are at as much of a loss of understanding as we are?
Actually, Vero if there is anything that any of us can do to help? I know from a distance but still…I am sure that they appreciate your efforts so much.
It is terrible to think how far the wave of this sadness spreads.