Twenty Acts - Making Sense of a Tragedy

I've lived through so many horrible, senseless tragedies, but none that have just shattered me as this most recent one.  I found myself glued to the computer and updates as the story unfolded.  I read the first report of an entire kindergarten classroom unaccounted for and the tears began.  Little kids, the same age as Ayden...and by all account more than likely not survivors.  By now, we know this to be true.  That twenty little kindergartens and first graders left for school that morning and never returned home.  I struggle to make sense of this, to comprehend how anyone would be able to enter into a place - especially an elementary school - and look at little angels such as my Ayden and shoot them.

And this is how we as people cope.  We find a way to relate these things to our own lives so we can better understand them and then deal with them in our own way.  For some, it's by speaking out for things that we think caused this to happen.  Debates such as gun control and prayer in school are littered across the news and internet.  Individuals who feel they can "fix" this by taking away guns or giving guns to teachers.  Those who feel that prayer not being allowed in school could change things.  I understand the need to do something, but this is not the way.    To those focusing on these topics, I hope you open your eyes.  I hope you continue to read what I have to say.

Mental health.  People that do things like this have some kind of problem.   The media can speculate on what that exact problem is all they want, but no matter the name or diagnosis given - it does not change the fact that something is not right with them and there should be help before it gets to this point.  How many lives will be taken before this becomes a priority?  How many people will have to do something drastic to cry out for help?  How much longer can we [as a country] ignore this issue?  In a country where 1 in 10 people over the age of 12 are on some sort of antidepressant  what is being done?  I can't answer any of those questions...but I do know it is a problem and does need to be addressed.

Entitlement.  America is just not a group of peoples that promotes caring and love for others anymore - we instead promotes greed and a "me, me, me" attitude.  One where a majority of people think they are entitled to, well, everything without doing anything to get it.  Hard work, sacrifice, and giving to/helping our fellow man are just not the way of this country and to me THIS is where the change needs to begin.   With you, with me, with the countless others who are afraid, upset, and just flat out angry and these tragedies that continue to happen more and more frequently.

And then there is this:

Fifteen days left until 2013.
Twenty little beautiful children to honor.

Our first act begins today... We made a donation to one of the Sandy Hook victims.

Noah was one of the twenty children who didn't survive the Sandy Hook shootings.  He turned 6 years old on November 20, with his twin sister Arielle - who was in  another classroom and survived.  This is Noah's Aunt on twitter.

For others who may be interested....the link to donate to Noah's funeral is here.