One year ago today, 20 young children had their lives cut short when a lone gunman entered Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., and in an act of cold-blooded cowardice shot the helpless first-graders before turning the weapon on himself.
That’s 20 futures that will never come to fruition. That’s 20 sets of parents who will never have the joy of seeing their child grow and prosper. And an entire community where Christmas will never quite be the same again.
Despite the efforts of investigators, no one will ever really be able to make sense of the tragedy. Tragedies like this are always ultimately senseless, the abhorrent act of one or more deranged individuals.
But while finding any sort of logic in these acts is an exercise in futility, what does result is quite often the very opposite of any mass murderers intention. These individuals obviously see no value in human life — whether it be their own or that of others. But what results is actually an increased value on human life, a desire to live each day to the fullest and to truly treasure those you care about.
These gunman also often seek to disrupt a community, to shred those ties that bind people together, but again the result is very much the opposite. Tragedies have a way of bringing communities together, breaking down barriers that formerly existed and erasing grudges that may have once separated community members.
So while there is a void that
will never be filled in the lives
of those parents and others in
the Newtown community, those that survived have in many
ways come through the tragedy stronger and more resolute than ever to not let the actions of a deranged madman derail their futures too.
And what better way to observe the Christmas season than by showing the indomitable nature of the human spirit and the ultimate triumph of good over evil.