Question of the day
Why???
Yesterday, I had the most wonderful Valentine’s Day of my life. A box of chocolate covered strawberries was delivered by Fedex, and the man I love took me out to a wonderful dinner on the veranda of an old Florida inn. He made me feel special, and loved, and I hope I did the same for him.
Then, my son called me and asked me if I’d heard about what was going on in Florida. While it takes nothing from the incredible day that Dan planned for us, it certainly has plunged me into some grief and a lot of asking WHY. Dan and I talked about it, and even though we don’t completely agree, we both know that something has to be done. There has to be an answer to stop this carnage.
I want the answer to be simple, like banning the weapon of choice, the AR-15, like mental health checks for all who own them, now or in the future. I know it all steps on right of others, but like many people, at the moment I don’t care, I just want the killing to be stopped. But those things won’t work in and of themselves. If you ban AR-15’s then those with malice in their hearts will find another weapon. Mental health background checks won’t discover those who have never been in the mental health system, which I’m guessing many of the shooters have not.
When Sandy Hook happened, I lived an hour away, and my son’s first girlfriend was from there, and actually went to school with the shooter, Adam Lanza. I cried for days over those small children, and I am crying again and just can’t seem to find any answers in my heart to stop this madness.
The answer is not simple, unless you believe that love cures everything. And maybe some day it will prevail in our thinking and attitudes toward others. But right now we need a way to stop this, before it happens. Maybe someday we will love each other enough that no one will think of bringing such horror on fellow human beings. Right now, in this reality, we need to somehow find a way to keep people safe. Thoughts and prayers are nice, but they aren’t keeping anyone safe, and personally, I feel it’s an insult for politicians to constantly offer thoughts and prayers and do nothing, absolutely nothing to change things for the better.
So, I am giving my Question of the Day over to the grief and pain and horror that we all feel about what happened on Valentine’s Day / Ash Wednesday in Parkland, Florida. And all the other mass shootings, and senseless shootings that happen in this country every day.
Love and light, more than ever, to all.
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I had a beautiful day then I came home to watch the news of this horrible tragedy.
Unbelievably sad. I’m sorry for us all.
“We are living in our last days.” When the elderly in my family uttered this years ago, I didn’t bat an eye, now… it feels real.
It does. I’m really struggling to believe we can survive.
There are multiple factors of course, like a climate of bullying, and mental health deteriorating.But I often worry that news coverage creates copy cat killers. I don’t know the answer on how to deal with this, but I know the media needs to be careful how it is presented.
I think it would be great if the media didn’t give the shooters any press, like no names, no pics of them, so there could be no glorification by other lunatics. It’s such a multifaceted problem, but honestly…I think we have to start with some common sense gun control, because it’s something that can be done now, right now. All the other remedies are important too, but will take time, to get access to mental health for those who need it. It just eats me up. Like Bob Dylan says, “how many deaths will it take til he sees, too many people have died?” Enough already…way more than enough. Didn’t mean to rant on, it’s just so upsetting.
I understand. The cumulative effect of these shootings is starting to hit me.
Horrible tragedy, beyond words.
Agreed. But I sure hope a conversation can happen to create some real solutions. There are enough thoughts and prayers.