friday five

4:35 pm

I'm kind of at a loss of what to say, after seeing and hearing and reading all of the details about the latest school shooting.  

Ugh.

Yesterday, I was at the elementary school helping out in Brooke's classroom.  The kids were making gingerbread houses.  As I was walking through the halls, I happened to glance down the wing where the kindergarten classes are.  I noticed a little kindergartner that I know skipping down the hall.  Just skipping along without a care, without a worry, pigtails swaying from side to side.  And I smiled, because how could you not?  That kind of uncomplicated joy always gets me.

The thought that someone would come into a kindergarten (or any) classroom, and look at those little innocent faces... the thought that someone would consciously make the decision to destroy them, shatter families, futures, communities - I can't even begin to understand.  

I feel sick imagining what the families of those children are dealing with, right this minute - in a little town not all that far from my own.  Those parents that waited before driving away to make sure their child made it safely inside the school doors this morning, as I did.  Maybe they caught a backward glance, or a little wave or a smile, as I did from my child this morning.  Then maybe they drove off, feeling secure that the doors were closed, that their child was in a safe spot for the next six hours away from home, as I did.

What an unbelievable, tragic, unnecessary loss.  I wish I knew how to reassure my kids that they are safe, I wish I knew how to reassure myself.