the sweet, innocent children

Every morning at 6:50, I send my 11 year old son off to the bus
stop. I trust that his school will take care of him and keep him
safe. Each afternoon at 3:10, I take it for granted that he has
returned home to me.

We are living in a society in which madness is running amok.
Suicide is no longer the tragedy it used to be. We must now worry
about murder-suicide. It's not enough that a depressed man wants
to die. Now he wants to take other people out with him. I imagine
he feels like a failure in life, so he attempts to be infamous in
death. People will know he existed, because they will notice when
he starts shooting.

So, you want to kill your mother? That, alone, is evil. Why must
you do it at the school where she worked as a kindergarten
teacher? Why must you shoot the sweet, innocent children?

An unidentified child said on the news, "I heard seven booms. We
didn't scream, we cried."

I want those children to know that I am crying with them. My
heart breaks for them, the dead, the wounded and the survivors.
My blood runs cold with every parent' worst fear, "What if it had
been my child?"

President Barack Obama said:

We've endured too many of these tragedies in the past few
years... The majority of those who died today were children
-- beautiful little kids between the ages of 5 and 10 years
old. They had their entire lives ahead of them — birthdays,
graduations, weddings, kids of their own... So our hearts
are broken today — for the parents and grandparents, sisters
and brothers of these little children... Our hearts are
broken for the parents of the survivors as well, for as
blessed as they are to have their children home tonight,
they know that their children's innocence has been torn away
from them too early, and there are no words that will ease
their pain.

Your speech is touching, Mr. President, but what are you going to
do about it. How will you keep our children safe at school? How
will you protect our loved ones when they go out to eat,
Christmas shopping or to a movie?

In my heart, I know that nothing can be done. This is madness. We
cannot protect against madness, because madness is totally
unpredictable.

I talked to my son about what happened today. He admitted that
these stories scare him. But he is happy because in middle
school, they are allowed to barricade the doors and escape
through windows, if possible. And this makes him happy? Lord,
save us all.

Tonight, I will hug my beautiful child and thank God that he is
home safe with me. In another part of our nation, there are
dozens of parents who cannot do that. The only thing left for
them to embrace is grief and pain.

Oh, the children... The sweet, innocent children...