In light of the recent tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, friends all around the world are wondering what they can do to help. Though it is something small, I am sending an appeal for what each and every one of you can do every day.
I am from a small town. I live in a quaint, symmetrical house on a green lawn and could not wait to get out. When people in college ask me where I’m from, I briskly answer, “the most boring place on earth.” I’m too quick to mention the time I was stuck behind a horse and buggy while learning to drive, obsessively clutching the wheel and silently begging the people behind me to please stop trying to make me pass the animals. I’m all too ready to refer to the fact that we have ten pizza places, twenty nail salons, and seven gas stations…all of them closed by seven pm. I tell them it’s a wonderful place to raise children but a boring place to grow up. Though, after the events of December 14, 2012, I doubt anyone will want to raise their children within a ten-mile radius of here. And all I want is my small town back.
Newtown, Connecticut was a name that once meant a visit to the Orthodontist. Now, it is a symbol of horror to the entire world, a place where innocent children were murdered for their beautiful smiles and love of life. It has become a place where we cannot step for fear of bursting into tears at the thought of twenty-six fallen angels. Today, I was volunteering in a school classroom for the afternoon, two towns over from where the shooting took place. One of the aids opened the door to call the students down for an assembly and as the teacher walked into the hall to speak to her, a boy in the front row panicked, screaming, “They’re going to hurt us!” and jumped under his desk. The entire class went completely silent, eyes wide. The little girl next to me grabbed my arm and held on tight asking, “are we going to get shot?”
The lives of this community will forever be altered – plagued with the grief of their lost loved ones and feelings of utter helplessness. Watching my community fall to pieces and then support one another to get back on their feet was one of the most heart wrenching, yet motivational experiences of my life. I am horrified at the atrocities that took place in my backyard but moved by the unity, kindness, and generosity shown by the world in times of need. From tributes in Scotland, Brazil, Pakistan, and throughout our own country, human beings have come together at a time when we need each other most, when our faith in each other needs to be restored.
I am so happy to be home with my community during this time – to hug people I went to church with as a child, shopped with in the grocery store, and loved all through high school. But the attitude here is completely altered. The tangible sadness can be felt straight through to everyone’s heart. It is the entirety of our conversations, spoken and unspoken, and the nightmare that keeps all of us up late at night. But, we will endure. We hurt together and heal together, like every small town community does, remembering our loved ones and keeping them with us through time.
And so, I entreat you. I know you’re from the most boring place on earth too. I know that going to the movies on a Friday night is not your idea of thrilling and if you sit through one more community fundraiser, you’re going to scream. But please, don’t take it for granted. The community that you came from is where your heart will always be, intertwined with others that beat the same way. The most boring place on earth is better than the most horrific place on earth. Trust me, you will want your small town back too.
We pray every day for those whose lives were altered by the Sandy Hook Elementary school shooting. And for our angels, may you rest in peace.