Hello.
I genuinely did not want to write this post.
I wanted to avoid the subject at all cost. I wanted to keep living my life as if nothing happened.
But the reality is, that 17 innocent lives were lost and countless others are in ruins.
I would be a hypocrite not to discuss something that happened only 30 minutes away from my own home.
What upsets me most about the shooting at Stoneman Douglass High School is not that it was so close to home, or that people died, or that it occurred on a national and religious holiday, or even that this is such an acceptable part of American lives, but the fact that this person has the capability of making people fear for their lives when they are pursuing an education. That upsets me most. These were children, innocent children. And now so many of these innocent children are afraid to attend school, parents are afraid to send their children to get an education, school is literally an essential part of every child's life and thousands of students are now afraid of the institution that was meant to propel them towards a better life.
This post is not political and will not discuss the subject in detail. I simply ask every one of you to place yourself in the situation that those children faced the day a young man walked into their school with the intention of killing as many people as possible. Place yourself in their shoes. Feel their fear, try to imagine the sheer atrocity it must have been to sit and wait in a classroom, not knowing if you would make it out alive. Then, place yourself in the position of the parents that sent their child off to school every morning for the past 18 years and now will never see their baby ever again, will never hear their voice ever again, will never hug them ever again, will never hear their laughter, will never watch them walk across the graduation stage or get married or have children of their own. Have some compassion for those families and those students that have suffered.
I implore all of you to hug those around you that you love, make it known to them how much they mean to you. Pray for the families, pray for the souls of those students that lost their lives, pray for the young man who did this, pray that no other child will ever have to suffer this pain again.
I know that prayers and condolences will not make a change if they are not followed by action, but I choose not to get political because that's not my intention. I am incredibly proud of the willpower of Broward as a county and a community, these young people will truly make a change in the world because of their choice to not be silenced but rather use their voices to help others in the future.
I leave you with this quote:
"Opting for peace does not mean a passive acquiescence to evil or compromise of principle. It demands an active struggle against hatred, oppression, and disunity, but not by using methods of violence. Building peace requires creative and courageous action." - Pope John Paul II
A.
