I woke up this morning like any other Sunday morning, woken by kids wanting breakfast and my husband laying in bed next to me. I rememer thinking how thankful I was for today. Shortly after that, I learned that 50 people were killed and many more injured in a senseless act of violence in Orlando. My heart immediately started aching and wondering how this happens.
As I reflected on what was happening, I immediately thought of the parents of the victims. As parents, we pray for our kids’ safety daily, sometimes even hourly. My heart hurts for the families of the victims. They did not deserve this; they were enjoying a night out with friends that ended horribly wrong. It ended at the hands of someone else who wanted to hurt people.
I have a permanent knot in the pit of my stomach this morning. I can’t help but think of my children being raised in a world where senseless acts of violence like this happen. I am sure that every mother in history has had concerns about raising their children in the current world but how do we explain this violence to our kids? How do I tell my son who will soon be going out with friends to be very careful because you never know when someone will harm you? How? I don’t think there’s a way to do it because the bottom line is that we shouldn’t have to teach our children about senseless gun violence. But just because we shouldn’t have to doesn’t mean that we won’t.
We haven’t yet talked about this tragedy as a family. My children are 11 and 5, and I am not ready to ruin their view of this world yet. I want them to enjoy being children for a little bit longer. I want them to still be able to play outside without fear of what will happen. Leave the worrying to me, their mom. Some people aren’t that lucky, though.
Our thoughts, prayers, and hugs go out to the families and friends of the victims of the Orlando shooting. We pray for the parents, spouses, and kids of the victims. My hope is that our community can grow from this, that we can spread love to everyone around us. Maybe we can take a moment and think before we say something ugly about people, especially in front of our kids.
As parents, we need to spread love to our children and those around us. That is one thing I do plan to talk to my kids about, love. Love is the answer. Not hate, not ever.
Very well said. Beautiful.