Family

In light of what happened today in Newtown, CT, I felt compelled to write about family.

One never thinks that a tragedy like the school shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School could ever possibly happen to them. If any of my readers have children, do me a favor, tonight when you home please hug your kids and tell them that you love them or call them if they are away and tell them how important they are you. Our kids need to grow up knowing that their parents love them and that life is stable and secure.

We as parents want nothing more than to shield our kids and protect them from the horrors of the world. We want to ensure that they grow up to be good men and women and care for others and treat people well and respect life. We want to know that they will be able to fulfill their dreams and have the tools to take on the tasks associated with life.

I have an 11 year old son, Atom, and three step-children, Meghan, Aubrey and Nathan. I love them all dearly and want nothing less than their complete success and happiness in life. I reflect on my son, whom I have watched grow up to be a smart and caring young man who has his whole life ahead of him, both good and bad decisions and the consequences that accompany those decisions. I have the rare opportunity to watch life unfold for not only my son, but also my step-children as they all progress through school, work and eventually their own families.

As of this moment, 20 children ages five through ten have been killed in Newtown, CT in a Kindergarten through Fourth Grade school. Tragic.

We trust that when we send our kids to school they will be safer there than anywhere else they could be with the exception of home. No one knows yet if there was a breakdown of school security today but I suspect that since the killers mother worked at the school that he was a normal person to be seen there and as such trusted by school staff. I am sure that if there were any inclination that something was wrong, the staff would have done something sooner.

There are possibly other acting influences that are affecting my reaction to this today but I think that all of us, as parents, are affected by this in some way and I would hope that all of us call our kids, hug them if you can and tell them that we love them and that they are very important to us and do what we can to help them feel secure in their home life.

Thanks for listening.

Dawg