<p>And MaineL, I do think that children/young adults fear being victims. I think your son is scared of going to school, not just playing hookie. One local parent said she was taking her child to elementary school, but she was planning to sit in her car in parking lot. I expect she would have lots of company. A sense of trust in leaving ones child in school has been shattered.</p>
<p>DocT, I have no words adequate to help you through the grief. Is there anything we can do?</p>
<p>The things that have stopped me in my tracks and nearly brought me to my knees this week: the thought of Noah’s small coffin in the same funeral chapel where my father-in-law’s service was held in the spring; the class picture–that looked just like every class picture my kids ever had–with the single survivor’s face blurred out, that poor little girl who not only will be going to a new school in January–a tough adjustment for a little kid even in normal circumstances–but also won’t have any of her classmates with her, nor her teacher. How does anyone make sense of that to a child her age?</p>
<p>Today there was a story about Victor Cruz from the New York Giants visiting Jack Pinto’s family. Jack had been a huge Cruz fan, and was buried in a No. 80 Jersey (just typing tht does me in.) Victor Cruz heard that the boy was a fan, called the family on Saturday, and wore Jack’s name on his cleats at the game Sunday. yesterday he visited the family, including a bunch of kids from Jack’s peewee fb team. He gave his cleats and gloves to Jack’s older brother and sat with the family for a quite a while, just talking and playing video games with the kids. It was a touching story–apparently he was pretty undone by Jack’s story. Of course it’s a small gesture, but it sounds like it was very welcome by the Pinto family.</p>
<p>My friend who has a child (age 9) with Aspergers/autism has decided not to let her son know what has happened. She has spoken with the teacher and they have decided he will be out of the room “on errands” should the topic come up. For once, I am glad to be an empty nester and not having to make daily school decisions under trying circumstances, along with attempting to explain the inexplicable. 9/11 was bad enough.</p>
<p>It is not just children who are caught in fear. A few nights ago I had a dream where I was in my bedroom from childhood–my way, I guess, of returning to safety. At work, we have a suite of offices that connects to a separate entrance. The door has a code on it, yet we are startling each other every time we pass that way. And this involves all adults with no connection to Newtown.</p>
<p>May something greater than sadness and fear come from this tragedy…that is what I will hope for.</p>
<p>My husband owns a business in Newtown and we live in the area. With great sadness has brought great compassion to a beleaguered community. Yesterday the police came to talk to my husband about leasing warehouse space for the great outpouring of gifts being sent to the children & their families from far & wide. When my husband showed this officer the available space & told him under no circumstances would he take any money for its use, the police officer actually cried. That’s how it is here now–such a mixture of sadness & compassion.</p>
<p>When I read about Noah’s mother eulogizing him, I put my head down on the dining room table and sobbed. No mother should ever have to eulogize her boy. It is monstrous and unbearable.</p>
<p>My beautiful boy, who is my life, put his arm around me and let me cry. He understands.</p>
<p>I too have been so sad and so upset by this horrible senseless tragedy. My heart just breaks for the families and friends of the victims. I cannot wrap my mind about how one moves on from a tragedy such as this… and yet I know people do, although their lives have been permanently changed and their lives will never be the same.
My only connection to Newtown is peripheral as I work with the librarians at the high school who are my customers. I believe that I’ve either spoken to or met the librarian at Sandy Hook as her name is so familiar. I want to reach out to the librarians but I don’t want to feel as if I am intruding…any of my CT customers I’ve spoken with this week, we have exchanged our feelings and our hopes for a more peaceful future.
At the office we have engaged in many conversations and many of us believe that this truy horrific act will move the nationwide dialogue along and that action will be taken.
If you have ever been touched by gun violence, you never get over it. I sadly have a friend whose husband killed their soon to be five year old and committed suicide while she was away on a business trip many years ago. She was in the process of legally separating from him and trying to be very open to full joint custody, keeping the process as amicable as possible. I have never forgotten that little girl and when I see the faces of these children, it just breaks me up. My younger d who works part-time as a nanny and picks the little girl up at nursery school has seen a great increase in security. The school is nursery through grade 3 or 4 and now has double sign-in’s at pick up and will likely be issued a school ID card as a person affiliated with the school. She has been having trouble sleeping since last Friday as she sees young children every day.</p>
<p>It does me good to hear about the comfort dogs, and about Victor Cruz. Even amid the grief (or especially amid the grief), it must have been a thrill for Jacks brother and the peewee football team to meet an NFL star. This cant be easy for Mr. Cruz, and God bless him for doing it. Hes a hero in my book.</p>
<p>Daniel Barden wanted to be a firefighter, like his fathers cousins who work at NYFD. The cousins decided they wanted Daniel to have an honor guard, so they tweeted and facebooked, asking firefighters to come to his funeral. Come they did, driving in from Connecticut and New York and beyond, more than 100 firefighters and police officers, standing at attention along the procession route. May God bless them too.</p>
<p>And God bless Jet Blue Airlines. Noah Pozners mother wanted him to be buried with notes from the family. But the funeral was scheduled for Monday morning, and Noahs little cousin Ethan was in Seattle. There was no way Ethans note would get there in time, even by overnight mail. So Ethans mother tweeted, pleading for suggestions. Within minutes, Jet Blue responded. They asked her to bring the note to SeaTac, where she gave it to a flight attendant working a redeye flight to JFK. In the morning, the flight attendant handed it off to a waiting friend of Ethans mom, who drove it to the funeral. It got there in time.</p>
<p>Oh, God, the picture of hundreds of firefighters, all in dress blues, who showed up for the funeral of Daniel Barden, who wanted to be a firefighter like his uncle. This is all so unbearably sad. How can these kids’ parents get up and face the day? This little boy was only 7.</p>
<p>Today I read about the little boy, Dylan Hockley, who died with his teacher Anne Marie Murphy as she cradled him in her arms, and I finally had a long, hard cry. What a horrific time for the people who love these little children.</p>
<p>A guy in our running community felt compelled to do something and he decided to organize a small 26 mile run here in Nashville as a memorial to the 26 victims. He put something out on facebook and invited runners to join in for as many 6 1/2 mile loops as they wanted to run. He asked for a $1 donation per mile for a memorial tribute. The thing took on a life of it’s own, anonymous matches were made by corporations, water was donated, the police offered intersection protection, and we now have over 1000 runners. It is simply amazing and is just one small thing to do for remembrance and healing. He wrote this morning:</p>
<p>“1 week ago today one coward showed their is evil and hate in this world. Tomorrow… Well over a thousand of us will gather to show the world there is more love, togetherness, hope, strength, support and light in this world than any 1 person can dim.”</p>
<p>I’m proud to be part of this. My daughter and I will be joining for 13 miles.</p>
<p>3bm103, we have a police presence in our large, diverse midwestern high school. It’s a densely populated building with 1200 young men between the ages of 14 and 18. Imagine the testosterone, let alone the other issues for some of them with drugs, gangs, and so on. And there are 1200 girls there as well.</p>
<p>I feel reassured that the police are there and that the school has instituted stricter access policies this year. My daughter says she feels completely safe, but she also knows to keep her wits about her. I view her experience as good preparation for living in the real world after high school and college.</p>
<p>MOWC, thanks for the great story. I hope we have reached a tipping point and that people come together over their shared values of compassion and decency and a desire to show kindness toward others.</p>
<p>Just in case anyone is interested, uconn has set up a sandy hook scholarship fund for students who currently attend ths school, siblings of those who lost their lives, and dependents of those who lost their lives. </p>
<p>You can donate online.</p>
<p>Oops just realized someone above already posted this. Sorry!! If you click the above link it gives you the details.</p>