I keep thinking about the little girl from Sandy Hook Elementary school named Emilie. She had the bluest eyes and was only a year older than my Emily. I keep thinking about Victoria Soto, the first grade teacher who hid her students in closets and cabinets and told the shooter that they were in the gym, giving her own life to save theirs. I keep thinking about the parents, the siblings, the pets even who won't see those smiling faces again. Grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, friends and neighbors whose lives will be forever changed. A community in shock and in mourning.
There is no good time for such a thing to happen, but the holiday season is by far the worst. Presents will go unopened and decorations have even been taken down. Celebrating anything in such an atmosphere will be difficult, if not impossible, for those who have lost loved ones. Some families will pull together because of this tragedy, and some will be ripped apart, adding more heartache and more tears.
I pray for everyone affected. My heart aches for the lives cut short and the families devestated. I imagine those beautiful children being gathered into Jesus' loving and protecting arms and it eases a little of the sting.
There weren't six sentences in any of my work that felt appropriate to post today. I'm sure you understand, and I hope you will visit the other authors who did post for Six Sentence Sunday. I will. I'm hoping some of them posted their funniest lines because I could use a reason to smile or laugh.
Kate