Ache

I've started dripping tears at odd times the last 24 hours. I think thoughts (which a couple of days ago would have been totally irrational) along the lines of never letting my beloved 5 year old out of my sight. I am all out of sympathy for people who think current gun control is fine. I've heard their arguments, could see their side, but no more. I've been tipped over the edge.

I ache for the families. I ache for the children who lived through it and the parents who face the daunting task of repairing those children. I ache for and applaud the teachers who did everything they could to protect their charges. Travis commented, not in a heartless way, "I hope they {the children} are young enough that their brains just block it out and they don't remember." I fear it won't end this way and I fear this escalation of horror that cloaks our country and the world.

I support any action, governmental or otherwise, that will slow the tide of innocent children being killed. It was too many casualties 13 years ago at Columbine, and think how the tally has increased since then.

5 year olds are not equipped to battle this. They should be innocent, they are defenseless, and I want to make the world safer for them. When I was 12 I was in a position where I heard gunfire at school. It wasn't inside the school, but outside. The gunmen were people who were supposed to have guns. You know what, it was scary as hell. We lined up, crawled though the halls, and were evacuated. No one at the school was killed, but I still remember that day so clearly that I don't see how the children at Sandy Hook will ever forget.

I can't talk to F about this. We talked about Jessica Ridgeway and briefly about Aurora, but I can't talk about this. He shouldn't be scared to go to school and I don't see any way to prepare him. So it's all on us, as parents, to do something.

I'll support any and all means that will keep our nation's children safe. If adults have to make sacrifices to their rights, so be it. Our children have rights too and they can't vote for them yet. It's my job as a Mom to protect my family and I'm all in. I am open to changes from any quarter, from religious prayer to better health care and mental screening to changing how the public procures weapons.

Here is a small sample of the online places you can be heard.
We The People by the White House
SignOn Democracy in Action
Momsrising Where Moms and the People Who Love Them Go to Change the World
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