sadness

well, i know i usually write about the absurd, the bothersome and the downright hilarious but this week has been a rough one around here. as anybody knows, we had a school shooting just about 15 miles down the road this past monday at one of the amish schoolhouses. it was my birthday, so it's one of those things you know you'll remember forever. i, and most of the population here, are still just struggling to figure out why. it will always be the question i'm sure and it will never be answered. no one can and ever will figure out how someone could do something like that, especially to those who are so innocent. no one, until forced to do it themselves, can also understand the bravery that was shown that day by such young souls. i have no doubt that those little girls are basking in the eternal glory of our Lord face to face right now and that they are praying for their families to make it through. and day by day they will. they are a strong, faith filled and forgiving people. their beautiful, simple lives have been made a bit more complex by the world which they are surrounded, but they will pull through. that is their nature. anyway, if there could be a positive side to this, i believe it has made our community turn to prayer in an ever deeper way. in the face of tragedy, our Lord has made His presence abundantly clear. i know it has changed me. i no longer look at my children and take their simple smiles, their laughter and their soft mops of hair for granted. no longer do i shy away from hugs because i am too busy or from kisses from a chocolate or peanut butter covered face. i cherish every moment because it could be in the next moment that they are gone. my oldest daughter is six. some of the girls in that schoolhouse were six. i look into her eyes and i just cannot fathom it. i cannot fathom the pain, the fear. i cannot fathom the innocence lost, the lives forever changed. to children who do not even watch television or listen to the radio, what a horrible shock this must have been. please pray for their families and the family of the gunman. i cannot imagine the enormous hole which must have been left in their life also. may the Lord bless us, keep us and watch over us now and forever. Mother Mary, bring us safely to your Son.