Aftermath

Sadness spans our country today as we pray for the survivors of the Sandy Hook tragedy. The list of survivors being families, friends, students, faculty, community, residents, emergency rescue workers, I also include the assailants family. As I sat listening to President Obama’s speech, tears fell down my cheeks, onto my folded hands as he listed the names of the victims. It seemed endless.

I have a girlfriend who lives in Newtown. I, one of many words, do not know what to say to her, or to any of the survivors. I pray that they will be given the strength, the support, the love and whatever else they could possibly need to face just one more day. This is certainly going to be a moment by moment, hour by hour, one day at a time process. My girlfriend is a woman of faith. A woman who has gone on missionary trips, who cares about others, who has children and an adorable grandson that I’m sure, she needs to feel in her arms. While it appears that this is a close knit community, I believe they will need all our love, prayers and help to put one foot in front of the other and just keep walking. I cannot fathom what these people are going through.

There are so many articles circulating the internet. Gun control, mental illness, secular humanism. Yes, change needs to happen. These devastating acts are increasing not only in frequency, but escalating in terms of loss. It is as if one perpetrator is outdoing the last.

I am one who struggles with mental illness. I have since my teens. I have been treated for depression most of my life, I will be for the rest of my life. I know that this has put my family through hell. Not out of fear that I would harm someone else, but that I would harm myself. I write about mental illness, I share on the aspects of my life in homes to educate others, or to reach out to those who similarly challenged, feel alone with their struggles.

I commend the State of Connecticut and Town of Newtown officials, emergency response teams, community for the exemplary actions that they unfortunately had to take. I am in awe of the manner in which the parents were protected from the press, how this community has joined hands in hopes of helping each other heal.

“This is too close to home”, I heard someone say at the store today. I thought to myself… “This is too close to home” spanning the entire country.