It was another ordinary Friday. The kids went off to school and I went off to work just like all Fridays. Then the news came of the horrific events in Connecticut. Slowly the information seeped through our phones and televisions giving us the details of the moments that would change us all forever. I left work and headed to the pick up line where I would battle the urge to just rush in to hug my sweeties. I noticed that cars were there earlier and parents were out of cars discussing things. Fear on all of our faces. Tears in all of our eyes. The world is full of sadness with things that no human should ever have to endure but the pain seems to run deeper when innocent little faces are involved. They came out of the school and got into our cars. As parents I believe many of us felt like driving and driving and driving now that they were safely riding along to a place where these things just don't happen. We smiled at them as they told us about their day...fighting the tears that were filling our tired eyes.
And we hugged them simply because we could. Those families will never get to hug them again.
Ever.
This was the sort of day when you made exceptions, found ways to spoil and slowed down a bit because nothing else mattered in the world. Your babies were safe in your arms. It has been days since this dark Friday and the tears are still flowing freely for so many of us. Flowing for people we have never even met. But we know these people. We are these people. We know, that they too, dropped their babies off or waved as the bus left the stop. They thought it was a regular old Friday. Maybe they talked about Pizza Night or what they would be doing all weekend. Plans were made for finding the right tree and decorating while singing carols and drinking cocoa. Presents were under the tree with name tags for a child that would never get to open them. Stockings hung on mantels. Photo cards were already in mailboxes with those little faces. A regular Friday at the most peaceful time of year. I have put off writing these words knowing I would need time to recover after writing them. But today as the tears stream I realize in this tragedy, like most I suppose, we will come together better than ever before. We will prioritize. We will gather. We will support. We might smile bigger and love harder. Hugs might come more freely. Maybe we will see what can be gained in their loss so as not to have it all be for nothing. For each little face....for every victim...for those heroes...make a change. Make a change in your own life. Be a hero. Take a risk. Show your love. Share your talents. Be brighter in the darkness. Light a candle for the babies and a light in your heart to never take another day for granted. Stop looking the other way when someone seems sad. Ask "How are you?" and mean it...really mean it. Listen carefully to the unsaid. Stop judging and start caring. Make it your business. In between battles about gun control and politics, safety issues and mental health debates...look at the people you know. Who needs love, support, patience and strength right now? Give it to them. With your whole damn heart not the little bits and pieces you always have because you are scared to or because it's not yours to deal with. Don't be too "busy" to care. Random acts of kindness are sweet but kindness every damn minute of every damn day to every human you interact with would be a real gift to the world. Anyone can pick a moment to be "good". Live it daily. Breath by breath, heartbeat by heartbeat...find the peace. Then bubble up with so much that you need to share it with someone who has less. Donate food to the poor, clothes to the cold...YES...but give love to your fellow man. Help a tired mother, listen to a tired father, giggle with a child, be the ear and the voice to save a life. Defend the helpless, be a friend to the lonely, help fight the bullies. Be brave, be peaceful but damn...be strong. As anger and frustration build because we can't go back in time and prevent this from happening to these innocent people...as fear creeps in that it could happen to any one of us...as helplessness finds us in the moments we fall apart...light something within yourself to move forward. Share the light. It might be the glow that changes the future...
"Appreciation is the highest form of prayer, for it
acknowledges the presence of good wherever you shine the light of your
thankful thoughts."
Alan Cohen
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