Today I visited what is the new Sandy Hook Elementary School in Monroe, CT. The old building in Newtown that saw one of the most horrific events I could ever imagine is no longer in use. As I drove through the community and saw countless mailboxes and fences adorned with green and white ribbons in memory of lives lost and in solidarity, support, of their community it really hit me that this was a community that, to this day, is in mourning and is trying to heal. As I pulled up to the school I never expected to get close to the building or even get inside. There was a barricade with a police officer at the entrance to the parking lot. He checks IDs and does his best to keep his community safe. I pulled up and handed him my letter and asked if he would be able to pass it along to anyone that he thought may need it. Before I drove away he looked me in the eyes, shook my hand, and said such a sincere "thank you", I knew that he was saying much more than thank you for a letter:
To The People of Sandy Hook: The students, the teachers, the
parents, the community,
My name is Lauren Ridd, I am
twenty-five years old, and I am from Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. On December fourteenth,
I, like countless others around the globe, watched, and listened, and read as
the horrific events unfolded at Sandy Hook Elementary School. And, like
countless others, my heart broke.
As an outsider, it is impossible
and would be unfair for one to even begin to think or try to understand the
horror, the fear, the loss, the pain, and the heartbreak that you have gone
through. But, like millions of people in your country, and, undoubtedly,
billions all over the world, I feel compassion and empathy, and I can mourn for
every loss you have suffered because of that day.
I know I am not the first to say,
but your strength, tenacity, and ability to survive – to get up and go to work
or school, to carry on with your lives, despite what one could only imagine to
be the worst day of your lives, is admirable and inspirational – in every sense
of those words. For that, I thank you.
The unfair
loss of innocence and dozens of lives that could
have been is one thing that makes your tragedy so, so heartbreaking. The
ones that will never know how it feels to kiss a boy for the first time on a
warm summer afternoon. The ones that will never get to drive their parents car
for the first time – and the ones who, inevitably would crash it. There are the
ones that will never be able to get down on one knee and propose to the love of
their lives – the ones that will never get to say, “yes.” But what saddens me
the most is the ones that will never be pushed or given the chance to figure
out what they are meant to do in this world. That, breaks my heart.
As an
outsider that has watched, and listened, and read only being able to imagine
what the day was like for your school and community, feeling sad and mournful
and angry at the person that caused so much pain is the common reaction. But,
know that that day and all that you went through, and all that you continue to
go through every day since December Fourteenth, you inspire people around the
world.
Sandy Hook,
you may not realize it, but you are the heroes of this world. Your ability to
go on with your lives, to walk into another school, to walk into another
classroom, to receive thousands upon thousands of letters just like this one
from strangers, outsiders, all over the world trying to make sense of the
senseless: thank you, Sandy Hook, for being strong, and tenacious, and
inspiring.
Stay strong.
Love, support, and
admiration,
Lauren Ridd
Winnipeg, Manitoba,
Canada
Wow Lauren, you're letter is so true and inspirational, made me tear up!
ReplyDelete