Posted on in guns, Politics, two moms, Uncategorized, Wordpress

Sandy Hook, I promise!

December 14, 2017, will mark the 5-year anniversary of one of the most solemn and horrific moments in our unrelenting lack of #GunSense in America. The school shooting at Sandy Hook. To honor those students and teachers, and everyone else we have lost to gun violence, I am reblogging this post.

Those boys and girls of Sandy Hook were in first grade, just like my Little. Please, take a moment, a very uncomfortable moment and think about all of the lives we lose senselessly due to our loose, lax and well-lobbied for laws around out of control gun purchasing in this country. Please also watch this 1 minute video, from the folks at #TheSandyHookPromise. You really need to. After, please share. C’mon moms! We need you.

Thank you. May we be strong enough to make the changes we need to here in America.

#EverytownForGunSafety #MomsDemandAction #WearOrange #TheSandyHookPromise

Early Saturday morning, I woke up after having climate change nightmares. These were not just hot flashes — I had real nightmares about the life of our planet. Think the Lorax, on crack. I wrote a post, Blog, Shmog: An Interview Today, poking some acerbic wit at mr t, orange-in-chief, and then I left to head over to the Wear Orange March. This march was not about global warming. It was the about senseless gun violence in our country. Yet another topic t won’t touch. After all, the NRA, they own him.

Hadiya Pendleton, 15 years old, was shot in the back. Gunned down while standing inside Harsh Park with her friends in Chicago in 2013. Just one week earlier, she performed live with her school band at President Obama’s (second) inauguration. Her murder occurred less than one mile from the Obama’s Chicago home. Hadiya, an honors student, volleyball player, band member, daughter — her future was bright in so many ways. The cause of death: shot by mistaken gang rivalry. The shooters, gang members, they told police that she was standing with people they thought were from a rival gang. It was a mistake. Michelle Obama attended her funeral. By that January day in Chicago, she was already the 42nd murder by firearm. A real shonda (shame) for her, her family, our world.

The gates of tears are never shut. Di toi’ern fun treren zeinen kain mol nit farshlossen.

Saturday morning was cool, raining. Hadiya would have been 20 years young on June 2 of this year. Her birthday now represents National Gun Violence Awareness Day across our country. Her brightness is now the color orange, the same color worn by hunters, so as to be seen and not shot. It is the color of gun violence prevention. Less than 100 of us gathered. Many moms held laminated photos of the children they lost to gun violence. We all talked. I told them I was there for Hadiya, and for the Sandy Hook Promise. When we failed all of those children and their teachers who gave their lives protecting them, I knew I had to do more. I couldn’t just sign a petition and call Senator Twomey’s office again. I had to enlist in the fight.

In the US, gun violence kills 93 people every single day — almost 34,000 lives per year. That includes murder, suicide, and accidental death. In Philadelphia, last year our number was 278. Almost 1 life per day. These numbers are stunning, but they must not leave us hardened. We must work harder than we ever have before.

Our kinder (sweet children) deserve better. Hadiya dreamt of going to Northwestern University. She wanted to become a pharmacist, a journalist, or a lawyer. She was a good kid. Hadiya, she deserved better.

Guns are a very large problem in this country. I do not think that our founding fathers had gang members, mental illness, violent domestic abuse, accidental death and suicide in mind when they created the second amendment. I believe there is some good legislation out there (SB 501 for stronger gun control rights) that needs enforcing, and I believe there are some horrible laws on the books (SB 383 that arms school staff, teachers, and boards). Vey iz mir (OMG), we need to make some drastic changes.

Last I checked, we were ONE human race. How can we all begin to walk with empathy and love in our hearts? When will we begin to embrace all of our very unique and beautiful differences, instead of fearing them? I will do that for Hadiya. I will do that for all of those families from Sandy Hook. I will do that for everyone affected by senseless gun violence. We need to do that for all the kinder (children).
Please join me.

Death doesn’t knock on the door (and warn you of it’s impending arrival). Toyt tut nit klapn aoyf di tir.

Live every minute of every day.

      

      

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

33 thoughts on “Sandy Hook, I promise!”

  1. Thank you for the reminder, yes we should remember that horrific day. Now that i have children, my heart aches even more for those parents who were subjected to facing such a tragedy. I truly hope that our world can get better, but deep down something tells me it won’t.

    Liked by 1 person

  2. I’m with you. When something at school happens we do a risk reduction plan and make sure everything is done to reduce the risk of it happening again. The countless times a gun has killed someone would mean for me that guns need to be banned and this would reduce the risk. #ablogginggoodtime

    Liked by 1 person

  3. Such a gripping post – it really is food for thought. Well as their are no regulations on guns in America and it is so easy to purchase one there; it is the same here in South Africa. Although we have tough regulations and it is very difficult to purchase one here – theft of these guns are quite common. Criminals steal guns and use it to rob and commit crimes. If all could just live in harmony and stop these senseless killings; the world would be a much better and peaceful place. Thanks for sharing this.#fortheloveofBLOG

    Liked by 1 person

  5. As soon as I saw your title I started to cry. Sandy Hook is only about 45 minutes away from me and I remember when it happened most of us parents took our kids out of school that day and kept them home for the next few days. The schools didn’t complain about it as they did close the school the next day for mourning. After that, for about six months the police patrolled every school in our town and anyone who even walked onto the property was looked at with suspicion and some were reported. Usually, people were allowed to walk their dogs onto the school grounds but after that, everyone walking onto the property was monitored. It never should have even had to come to that! We do need to stop these senseless killings and we need to come to an agreement about gun control so that this stops. Thanks so much for your post! #ablogginggoodtime

    Liked by 1 person

  6. This is such a touching post. I am a gun owner, a responsible gun owner, but we need a LOT of change to our laws to stop people who shouldn’t have access to them. Sadly, the politicians seem to make this an ALL or NOTHING game for votes. We will never get reform if the only solution offered is no guns or every gun. There is middle ground but when have the politicians ever cared about that?!

    Liked by 1 person

    1. I’m not afraid of responsible gun owners, like you. And, I don’t want to take everyone’s guns away. We just need some real checks and balances so we can keep humanity alive. 💕 so sorry for the late reply! I just found this respond Heather! 😘✨ Merry 🎄 Christmas!

      Liked by 1 person

  7. Very true. We need to become more peaceful. I had an encounter with a gun a couple of weeks ago (I robbed at gun point two weeks ago.) and it was scary. The problem we have is that this crazy culture has taken over and people don’t have a the basic respect for each other. It is so sad. The culture of the streets have taken over. #fortheloveofBLOG

    Liked by 1 person

  8. Has it been 5 years already? It seems like something that happened not that long ago, thank you for the reminder and that we should all try and make our world a better place for us and our children. I can’t imagine what the parents much have been going through that day, but I would never wish that on anyone. #ThatFridayLinky

    Liked by 1 person

  10. Yeah, I’m pretty sure the one shot muskets our founding father’s used for hunting and protection were quite different from the guns we have available today. It’s crazy that we don’t have more regulations on guns; especially considering things like Sandy Hook and the other school shootings. #FabFridayPost

    Liked by 1 person

  12. It breaks my heart to think of those children and teachers and their families, and reading the facts that you’ve shared here is just devastating Lisa. I applaud you and thank you for sharing this powerful post x #DreamTeam

    Liked by 1 person

  13. I cannot believe it has been five years already. I still cannot believe there is no gun laws in place to prevent this kind of situation happening again!! I know your constitution states you have a right to bare arms, but surely it doesnt state you can commit an abhorrent crime that still shocks the world years down the line! Unfortunately, Mr T wont do anything to stop this kind of act.
    Thank you for sharing this with us at #TriumphantTales. I hope to see you back next week for the last link up for the year!

    Liked by 1 person

  18. Oh my goodness Lisa. Those stats are frightening and utterly shocking. It’s not right and I am astounded that this happens in this day and age. It’s sickening. Thank you for being so bold and sharing your views on this in this post. We all need to stand up and make our voices count. Something must change. #Dreamteam xx

    Liked by 1 person

  19. This is so horrific and horrible. I can never understand such act. I remembered that day. What a dark day it was for the World. We don’t have guns here, but stabbing seem to be on the raise and its horrendous. How can we control guns and knives. It’s just ridiculous! This is such a problem for us all and I am very sad for those parents who have lost their children. I can never come to terms with that. It just doesn’t make sense. None at all.

    Thank you for your post on #FabFridayPost

    Liked by 1 person

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