Remember to say “I love you”

[media-credit id=3 align=”alignleft” width=”300″][/media-credit]Last Friday, while shopping in North Adams, the man behind the store  counter started talking to a coworker about the tragedy in Newtown, Conn.

Curious about what was happening, I asked about the shooting.

The news of a gunman in an elementary school had just been released to the public, and details were sketchy.

Later on, the full horror of the event blared out of the television. Just like everyone else in this country and around the world, the news stunned me.

Even as the pieces of the gory puzzle started to fall into place, the bloody shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School seemed surreal.

How could a heavily-armed man get into an elementary school? How could anyone shoot innocent little children and their teachers to death? What made such a person come to such a horrific act of terror?

All I could think of, as the shocking number of 20 children and six adults dead was revealed, were the parents of the kids. Can you even imagine what it must have been like for them?

In the morning, they probably supervised the eating of breakfast, gave pecks on the cheeks of their kids and said goodbye, never dreaming they’d never see their little faces again.

They never fathomed a madman would shoot the life out of their sweet and innocent babies before the day ended.

Parents everywhere know what a difficult and demanding job parenting can be. First, there’s the pregnancy and delivery challenges, followed by endless months without a full night’s sleep.

There are numerous earmarks of babyhood and then, suddenly, the babies become toddlers, taking their first proud steps and crying out “Mama” and “Dahdah” through toothless grins.

Finally, it’s time for the first day of school. What parent hasn’t shed tears over that event? It’s a happy time but traumatic, too. It signals the end of a parent’s minute-by-minute care of a child. There’s a teacher involved now, too, who will spend many hours a day with one’s child.

When parents send their little ones to school, they know the children are going to a safe place to learn, right? Isn’t that the way it’s supposed to be?

Most parents know education is imperative and leave their children willingly at the doors of schools all over this country.

No parent ever contemplates an act of unadulterated evil and madness will befall their child during a typical school day, less than two weeks before Christmas.

When I saw the horror-stricken look on the faces of parents learning of the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School, tears filled my eyes. It was hard to breathe. I felt so devastated.

No one with a heart could feel otherwise. Some of the parents covered their faces with their hands, probably hoping and praying their own children had been spared. In 20 cases, that was not to be.

Then the news media obtained photographs of some of the little children who had been killed and posted them on television. They were beautiful children, darling and innocent, just starting their lives in the world.

I looked into their eyes and saw the smiles on their faces: handsome, pretty, enthusiastic, adorable, and so very, very young!

Many were probably looking forward to Christmas and school vacation.

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Suddenly, on that fateful Friday, they were gone. It was horrible to think of their bodies having to remain inside the school Friday night. How the parents could survive that agony is beyond comprehension. I’m sure part of their hearts died with their children.

There is a very huge cloud over the holidays this year.

Sitting on the couch in the living room, I looked at the white lights of the Christmas tree through tears. Carols no longer brought joy and peace to my heart as thoughts came back, again and again, to the parents of the children who had been killed.

Like most of us, I watched the proceedings over the next few days on television and wept some more.

Certainly, if some legislation can come through on getting assault weapons off the streets, at least something good could come out of the killing spree.

In addition, some of the teachers at Sandy Hook Elementary School lost their lives while defending children.

Teachers everywhere have incredibly important jobs. Hopefully, they will be appreciated even more now and paid accordingly, as well. Where would our children be without teachers?

As a result of this agonizing, anguishing event, parents everywhere can do one more thing. Today, when their children call for their attention, they can stop, get down to the children’s level and really listen.

Then, they can take their children in their arms and hug them tenderly.

They can say, with warmth and conviction, “I love you. I’m so glad you are my son [or daughter].”

Parents of 20 little innocents in Newtown, Conn., can never do that again as long as they live. Their little daughters and sons were taken from them forever on this earth.

If you are a parent, grandparent, aunt, uncle or cousin, do it for them.

And if it is in your belief system, pray for the new angels from Newtown, Conn.

Posted by Susan M. Wicker Guerrero on December 20, 2012. Filed under Columns,From the Heart,Opinion. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry