The sadness has followed me around since last Friday. It’s just there. I’m having a really hard time falling asleep. It’s so hard to shut down mentally.
I feel a little bit like I did back in that second week of September in 2001 when the world changed forever.
The world has changed again.
The world has changed again.
Last Friday night I checked on each of my children as I do every single night.
Last Friday night was different. As I looked into my (almost) 6 year old daughter’s room and saw her fast asleep with arms tucked under her chest and bum up in the air, I had to lean against her door frame and let myself weep for minute. The thought of all those empty beds was too much to bear.
She slept with me the next night. My choice.
Last Friday night was different. As I looked into my (almost) 6 year old daughter’s room and saw her fast asleep with arms tucked under her chest and bum up in the air, I had to lean against her door frame and let myself weep for minute. The thought of all those empty beds was too much to bear.
She slept with me the next night. My choice.
Sean won’t talk about it. He won’t let me talk about it. He gets angry and will firmly tell me to stop talking about it.
He won’t watch the news and our weekend paper ended up in recycling before it was read.
He won’t watch the news and our weekend paper ended up in recycling before it was read.
I told him that the reason he is so angry about it is because the only other emotion he could feel would be immense sadness. He didn’t argue with me.My heart hurt a little more once the A words started floating around the news reports.
Autism. Aspergers.
Nobody knows for sure if the perpetrator was on the autism spectrum. I haven’t heard concrete confirmation that he was, but if he was I can guarantee you – that is not why this tragedy occurred.
Autism. Aspergers.
Nobody knows for sure if the perpetrator was on the autism spectrum. I haven’t heard concrete confirmation that he was, but if he was I can guarantee you – that is not why this tragedy occurred.
I linked this article to my facebook page and asked friends to share it. Please read it.
I was furious at our local news reporter for airing a segment from Newtown where he interviewed a man who “suffers” from the “illness”. I found it completely irresponsible to relate it as he did to this tragedy and it just perpetuates the stigma and misinformation about autism spectrum disorders.
I said as much to the reporter on twitter and after several tweets back and forth he was no more enlightened and saw nothing wrong with the story he aired. It still pisses me off.
If you’re interested in watching, you can find it here at the 1:30 mark.
I said as much to the reporter on twitter and after several tweets back and forth he was no more enlightened and saw nothing wrong with the story he aired. It still pisses me off.
If you’re interested in watching, you can find it here at the 1:30 mark.
I want to move away from the sadness that took hold of the world last Friday.
I want the anxiety of “what if” to back off. I want to enjoy the anticipation of Christmas with my children. I want to have a good night’s sleep.
So I’m going to take the advice I saw in a newspaper headline:
I want the anxiety of “what if” to back off. I want to enjoy the anticipation of Christmas with my children. I want to have a good night’s sleep.
So I’m going to take the advice I saw in a newspaper headline:
“Hug your kids. Keep living.”
Ugh – sometimes the media drives me insane… especially with this story. All their initial reports were wrong – they got the name of the killer wrong, they said his mom worked at the school… I also got really angry when they started saying the killer was autistic and/or had Aspergers – to me, he was a killer, pure and simple, end of story. He’s dead – we’ll never know why and honestly, I don’t care – I only care about those 26 souls that he sent to heaven prematurely, all innocents. I really didn’t even care to know his name. Too much focus is put on the killer, not enough on the victims. In their quest for headlines, I find the media is really pushing the boundaries. They have become exactly like the paparazzi. Makes me sick to my stomach sometimes. Why can’t they just focus on the victims? Let’s hear their stories… I cannot imagine how those families are dealing with this right now … that day, when my two came home from school, I held them tight not wanting to ever let them go. I only wish I could send those families some sort of strength to help them through this…
Oh lady… I know. I know.
I have images of grieving parents still remembering some of the gifts they have wrapped and tucked away in closets and in the garage with their kids’ names on them… and how a whole townsworth of people will be attending funerals – for children (which are the absolute worst) – every day this week. And some week too, probably. I can’t take it. How do people recover from this? They must. They find a way to put one foot in front of the other and keep breathing.
Le sads. 🙁 Keep breathing. xoxoxoxo
🙁 My heart hurts too. The possible link to mental illness is just one of the many many things that contributed to this situation and others like it IMO. Though not everyone who commits these crimes is actually mentally ill. Sometimes they are just disturbed people that do inexplicably horrible things.
I’ve read more than I’ve watched.