As a Connecticut teacher I received my key from a student after the shooting at Sandy Hook. On my key was stamped, "Strength." What the parent of my student didn't know was that I'm a Newtown resident. My 8 year old son attends school here. I'm very grateful that he goes to a different elementary school and was unharmed. Now, I'm trying to find ways to explain such evil to him. How do you explain the WHY of such a tragic event to an 8 year old when adults can't even wrap their heads around it?? He knew something serious had
happened because his school went into lockdown and children are intuitive and he heard the whispers and the grieving, shocked adults. Being that he's in third grade I wanted him to hear about this event from us rather than from the bus. At first, he was worried about his friends from Sandy Hook that he didn't see at his after school care Friday afternoon. We found out on Sunday that none of his friends were killed. He wanted to know what happened to the gunman so I told him. His reply, "I think I know why he did that. After he did that bad evil thing, he knew there was no way to make it right again. He knew it was wrong and he was sorry. He knew he should be punished, so he punished himself." Tomorrow I am passing the key on to his first grade teacher. She is a resident in Newtown, a parent of an 8 year old AND has lost her dear colleagues at Sandy Hook. May it give her STRENGTH to continue. Please keep us here in Newtown in your thoughts and prayers.
- Andrea
