The first thing I thought of was the presents.
When I heard about what happened in Connecticut last Friday, I couldn't stop thinking of how, this Christmas, the gifts meant for those children would remain unopened. Gifts requested in letters to Santa in big exaggerated first grader print. Boxes already wrapped and hidden away in a closet or under a bed awaiting the big day and the big reveal. Moms and Dads and Grandparents secretly just as excited to give the gift as the child who was suppose to receive it. It was going to be magical, as only Christmas can be in the eyes of a child.
But not this year. Not for those families.
I thought about those gifts left behind in their hiding spots. Wrapped and taped and sealed away. Unopened boxes and unloved toys. Too much a reminder of what should have and could have been.
Just one small symbol of all that was lost.
I thought about this, too. Grief and loss is so layered and this will be one of the first, incredibly painful layers these poor parents have to endure. I simply cannot wrap my brain around this sort of mass devastation. It is too much.
ReplyDeletexo
I have lost a child...but this trauma, this is unfathomable. This will shatter lives beyond the innocent that were gunned down.
ReplyDeleteI just can't understand the gun thing...I won't start any political rants here, but I think you get what I mean.