A link that will make you cry

Here is a link about one of the young children killed in Newtown.

Click here

More than anything else, this put the horrible events of that day straight into my heart, and left me gasping for breath through my tears.  I think about that precious little girl, and I see Janey.  The fact that she was in the class she was making me think the school must have been an inclusion school.  I think of Janey, in a situation like that, unable to follow instructions, unable to hide and be quiet, unable to understand in any way what was happening---not that any child could, but I think of her fear of loud noises, her reactions to others being upset, her dislike of the school routine changing.  I think of all that, and I can barely take it.

We all depend on others.  We depend on everyone who keeps our world safe and operating.  But some of us depend more on others.  Janey does, and that means I do too.  I depend on anyone who is with her when I am not.  Janey needs supervision constantly, just to stay out of danger, literally, to stay alive.  Without someone holding her hand, she might run into traffic, or wander away.  Without someone taking the burners off the stove, or locking cupboards or monitoring hot water, or making sure she doesn't break glass or choke on things she puts in her mouth, we could lose her.  I live with that every day.  I trust the people that care for her at school, and my immediate family.  Other than that, she is with me, all the time.  I imagine the parents of Josephine Gay knew that feeling all too well.  They sent her that morning to a place she'd be safe and cared for.  And evil came that day, and took her life, and the life of other precious children.  In a way, that day reminded us all that we live with an illusion of safety.  Those of us with children like Janey have known that for a while.  I wish no-one else ever had to learn that horrible lesson.