When the parents release favorite photos of their children,

[Are_grits_groceries]

Last edited Sun Dec 16, 2012, 09:45 AM - Edit history (1)

it will be beyond gut-wrenching. They will no longer be the figures that we have conjured up in our minds. They will be the innocent gone too soon.

Kids that age invariably are goofily sweet and open. The pictures give some hint of who they are. You know them- the scamps, the shy ones, the cute ones, the serious ones, and the indecipherable ones. These are just the hints we see in those photos. What they would have become is lost now.

In their eyes there will be many things from hints of hope to some mysterious plans. We never truly know what plans are continually being formed in the young. Those plans are now only in our imaginations.

We will say an inconceivable goodby to part of us as they are laid to rest. What has been lost can never truly be counted and written in some ledger. That is beyond our power to enumerate.

The flowers will grow and remind us of those ephemeral lives. Forever young.......

[boston bean]

1. These babes probably had their school pics taken in November.

Most were probably anxiously awaiting Santa, and being good in anticipation of Christmas presents and evil darkened their doorstep.

Killing a big part of their parents.

No one touched by this will ever be the same.

Our nation is a disgrace... I am sure we are looked upon as barbarians, because it is so fucking obvious we have a problem and we have politicians and gun lobbies telling us we can't talk about the solutions. They say there are none.... When all of these other countries don't have this barbaric problem.....

It's non sensical.

More guns is never the answer. Not just because more crazies can get a hold of them. Who wants to live in a place where you have to fear every where you go, and to have a chance of living you need to carry a gun yourself?

It's a repulsive thought.

[marions ghost]

3. Australians (I know a few) say they just do not

understand why we put up with this.

"who wants to live in a place where you have to fear everywhere you go...?" u say -- and that is the essential question, the reason why I say that those who want to do nothing to change this are keeping us all hostage.

When you go to Australia you can feel the difference when you get off the plane--not nearly so much anger, fear, hostility in the population. It is a whole different world, so much more freedom to move around without this kind of fear.

I am now in the annual mode of "no shopping malls" because of it. I know someone whose young adult daughter was killed outside a Target in VA in broad daylight right before Christmas. The guy shot her and grabbed her purse. This does not occur in Australia.

I also know local people whose lives were touched by death in the case of legal guns in legal situations.

Gun violence sickens the whole society.

Why America? WHY do we not do something about this? Write your congress critters today. Tell them we have had enough.

[jsr]

2. Dunblane, Scotland, 1996:

[A Simple Game]

17. Wow, you had to go all the way back to 1996 to find a similar event outside of the US.

Excellent way to point out how much worse our problem is than in other countries.

Good find. With more people like you, we may be able to get something done about this problem.

[1-Old-Man]

4. Never.

[Loudly]

5. I like this post and this thread.

Elixir for how angry and sad and helpless I feel.

[Le Taz Hot]

6. At which point

I'm going to lose it all over again.

[LiberalEsto]

7. They should release photos of the corpses

and force everyone in this gun-nut nation to look at them.

I think the children of the gun manufacturers, the NRA lobbyists, the gutless members of Congress, gun-worshipers, and the owners of gun stores, in particular, should look at these tiny corpses to see what their daddies and moms are all about.

Mass slaughter should not be sanitized.

[Jennicut]

13. Connecticut state police would never do that.

Per the parents and the respect for their privacy.

[LiberalEsto]

14. Obviously not. I know that.

I worked as a newspaper reporter for many years.

BUT I think it is time for the perpetrators of gun culture to be FORCED to look at what they have wrought.

[JanMichael]

15. I think the president of the NRA should be given a mop and bottle of clorox and be filmed

cleaning up the hallways and rooms of that school, and that video should be posted on EVERY political website, EVERY FB page, EVERY twitter account, and shown on every news programs.

[llmart]

24. I absolutely agree with you.

Just like Bush/Cheney hid the photos of the coffins of dead soldiers from Iraq, they realized a visual might stir up anti-war sentiment even more.

It would physically make me sick to see 20 little coffins, but if that's what's necessary to wake up the citizens of the United States, then we need to do it. We also need to show the horrendous grief their parents are suffering.

[Capt. Obvious]

8. I could only picture my daughter when hearing about the news

It could have been her.

[lunatica]

9. Newtown now has a historical dividing day

Just like we all divide our recent history into 'before 9/11' and 'after 9/11' so it will be for Newtown.

I'm never far from tears. I woke up in the middle of the night and started crying again. I remember how cold it was when my brother died. It was Winter in Illinois and very cold. To this day when I get cold like that it reminds me. I felt like a had an endless vast hollow hole inside and the only thing that filled it was the cold. The warmth had left me.

[slackmaster]

10. I hope they don't. There is no good reason for that.

[Paladin]

11. Imagine My Surprise At Your Opinion. (nt)

[sammytko]

12. I think she meant photos of them when they were alive, not

Crime scene photos.

[Heather MC]

16. Sadly nothing will change :(

Rememer the Amish school shootings. Nothing changes gun lovers will just say 'this is why we need more guns.'

As long as people have rage and access to guns this will keep happening

[Dustlawyer]

18. I lost a son, Joshua, at age 3 1/2. I was a total basket case for 2 years. There was no joy in

anything. To this day, the hardest thing was telling my other 2 children that their little brother was about to die (we had to unplug him from life support). I, unfortunately, can imagine what the families were going through, pure, unadulterated, grief and anger so deep that they feel they will never be able to go on. Hey NRA members, is this what you want? Unfortunately, they do not recognize, or refuse to recognize, the truth! They make excuses, blame others, but refuse to look in the mirror. I wonder if their were any NRA die hard members who's children were killed? I bet they get it now. It seems it has to happen to them before they see the other side of this issue. What a shame!

[Are_grits_groceries]

20. So sorry for your loss...... nt

[Dustlawyer]

26. Thank you! Christmas is fun again for me. I have young grandchildren whose innocent

joy and wonderment at this time of year cannot help but to bring joy to me and my family! I will however, be stopping by the cemetery on 12/21 to spend some time with Joshua and my father who insisted on being buried by Joshua's side. It is comforting now to do this as I spend time remembering them and the good times. In years past it was a very dark empty hole I would fall into. Knowing what I know about what those families have ahead of them, I am deeply saddened and my heart goes out to them! Thank you again!

[tk2kewl]

19. all of the world's children are precious

Last edited Sat Dec 15, 2012, 06:27 PM - Edit history (1)

Our future literally is dependent on our ability to nurture and protect them everywhere across the globe. There is no higher purpose.

[Tsiyu]

21. I hope they wait a while before naming them

Because reporters are going to swarm those poor families like white on rice.

Let them grieve privately for a few days...they have enough to deal with.

Bless each and every one of those babies - and all babies murdered senselessly because we can't figure out how to solve any problem without some kind of "war" and some violence to go along with it.

It's 2012 and it still feels like we are in a dark age - of the soul

[Are_grits_groceries]

22. Each family has a state trooper stationed at their home.

I think they will be there at least for a while longer. they are to assist the family in any way possible. Hopefully, that will deter the vultures.

[PufPuf23]

23. Beautifuland appropriate thoughts and words. Thank you.

The spiritual, moral, and reality of the acts of individuals, our nation, and the cruelties of existence have overwhelmed me as I turn 60.

We need kindness and wisdom, desperately so.

[Are_grits_groceries]

25. And now those pictures come......

The stuff of dreams and nightmares.