5 Years Ago

5 years ago in a school in Connecticut, a madman with a gun killed 20 children and 6 adults; including the nephew of a friend.

I remember feeling the awful gut wrenching feeling as if it had been my own nephew, but I will never truly understand what the families of the victims go through daily as a result of this tragedy.

I remember praying; stopping what I was doing in my office at work and praying for the radio reports to be mistaken, for the first responders, for the news about my friend's nephew to not be true, for understanding, for peace, for SO MANY THINGS.

How could something like that happen?

Here we are 5 years later and I am older, wiser, and much more cynical.  My sister summed it up well...we crossed a line that day as a nation that allows this to happen.  Sadly, it now happens with more frequency and each tragedy seems to have more victims.

I am not going to debate gun control today.  I am not going to rail against those that think we should walk down Main St. with weapons drawn.  I am not going to pontificate on mental healthcare and how it fails people daily.

I am going to be kinder than normal.  I am going to smile more.  I am going to say a few prayers.  I am going to enjoy the little things today.  I am going to reach out to someone in need.  I am going to honor the victims of Sandy Hook and those who went before them and since; all victims of gun violence. 

What I do isn't going to solve the world's problems, our nation's problems or even the problems of the neighbors on my block; I am only one person.

But I can make a difference in the world and so can you.