Sandy Hook

Everyone has heard about Sandy Hook by now. Everyone had heard about Sandy Hook by Friday afternoon. It's surprising, it's terrifying, but worse, it's our new normal. These kinds of tragedies seem to be happening all the time, and everyone seems to be working on some way to prevent it.

 But how?

How do we prevent something like this?

Higher security in our schools? The problem is that you don't know who is coming in to commit a crime like this, or who is coming in to take their kid to a dental appointment. From what I have read, the principal buzzed him through the security system because she recognized him. She didn't think in any way, shape or form that he was coming in for... something like that.

Gun control? I don't really know where I stand here. What I do know is that criminals are not known to follow the laws, so will stricter laws keep tragedies like this from occurring?

Mental illness help? Always. It's impossible to predict who will commit this kind of a crime. In America, we can't just assume that somebody has this capability, and therefore put them away for life. Because what if they aren't capable of it? We just ruined their life. But then, what if they are, and we aren't helping them. 

Sandy Hook.

I feel... speechless. And then I ramble. I can't comprehend what has happened. Small children go home and they have no one to play with. Their sibling, their best friend, their other half- is gone. How many children feel lost right now? Their parents are doing their best to keep it together, but how many children are watching their parents, maybe even their entire family, fall apart?

How many parents go home to any empty bed? They just sit on their child's bed, hugging their favorite stuffed animal and praying that it's all a horrific nightmare that they will wake up to. Then they find themselves ready to stand, ready to walk to the living room. Only to find every little thing reminding them of the child that they can no longer snuggle to sleep. The Christmas tree with gifts that will never be opened; the TV with every news station reporting on their child. They think of the last thing they said to their child. Was it a happy morning where they exchanged I love you's before their child jumped out of the car and ran into one of their favorite places in the world? Or was it a slow, not so happy morning? Was it a grumpy morning where the child didn't want to go to school, didn't even want to leave their bed? Hopefully not. I really, really hope not. 

So what can we do?

If you believe in a higher power- then pray. Pray until you don't think you can pray anymore, then pray again.

We can support them emotionally. We can let them know that the United States is behind them, and we will help them get the support they need.

We can support them financially. I read {but I have no idea if it has been confirmed} that a funeral home in Dubuque, Iowa is providing caskets to the family of each victim. If that is true, I'm not surprised. I live in Iowa. This is what Iowans do. We stand behind the people who need it; we do what we can.

So I am going to do what I can. I don't know the details yet, but I know that I am going to help. I will get all of my information to AP from I Love You More Than Carrots by the end of today, and everything you need to know will be up tomorrow. In the meantime, if you have ideas, please send them my way. E-mail me at casscrochetcreations@yahoo.com. I am going to be brainstorming all day, so I would definitely appreciate any kind of input that I can get.

My last thoughts for today, remember these names. You don't need to know the name of the murderer. You only need to know the names of the heroes {also known as teachers and other administrative staff} and the small children who lost their lives. That is it.

- Charlotte Bacon, 2/22/06, female
- Daniel Barden, 9/25/05, male
- Rachel Davino, 7/17/83, female.
- Olivia Engel, 7/18/06, female
- Josephine Gay, 12/11/05, female
- Ana M. Marquez-Greene, 04/04/06, female
- Dylan Hockley, 3/8/06, male
- Dawn Hochsprung, 06/28/65, female
- Madeleine F. Hsu, 7/10/06, female
- Catherine V. Hubbard, 6/08/06, female
- Chase Kowalski, 10/31/05, male
- Jesse Lewis, 6/30/06, male
- James Mattioli , 3/22/06, male
- Grace McDonnell, 12/04/05, female
- Anne Marie Murphy, 07/25/60, female
- Emilie Parker, 5/12/06, female
- Jack Pinto, 5/06/06, male
- Noah Pozner, 11/20/06, male
- Caroline Previdi, 9/07/06, female
- Jessica Rekos, 5/10/06, female
- Avielle Richman, 10/17/06, female
- Lauren Rousseau, 6/1982, female (full date of birth not specified)
- Mary Sherlach, 2/11/56, female
- Victoria Soto, 11/04/85, female
- Benjamin Wheeler, 9/12/06, male
- Allison N. Wyatt, 7/03/06, female

It is surely not a happy Monday.