I'm looking forward to spending Christmas and New Year's with my sons, daughter-in-law and granddaughters in South Carolina. To all who drop by here, I wish you joy now and throughout the New Year.
I have heard about the tragedy in Connecticut yesterday, watched the reports this
morning, and find it difficult to express my feelings. Tragedies like this leave us
numb. In thinking of the parents who've lost little ones, I remember
that my grandmother and grandfather never got over the loss of my mother, who died of cancer at the age of 35. I still feel her loss, too.
I
also remember friends whose first child was a son the same age as my younger son. They lived in a high rise near Ottawa, Ontario, on the 11th floor, and lost
their son, barely a year old, when a badly installed floor-to-ceiling
screen detached while he was looking down at the traffic. I still feel horror and sorrow at the thought of his mom racing down to his broken
little body. The couple visited us when Marc was 15, and by the way they
talked to him, questioned him about his life, I could tell they were
thinking, "Our son would be doing similar things..."
In
an interview, the priest of the Catholic Church in New Town said that some
parents had told him they were comforted just by his being with them.
From my personal experience, I know that the mere presence of loving
friends and family can be more comforting than words.
In such times,
it also comforts me to know that God always brings good out of evil, and
never allows us to endure more than we can bear, even though at the
time it might not seem like it. One good thing I can think of now is
that thousands, probably millions, of people all over the world are
praying for the families, which will benefit not only the families, but
those who pray as well.
This tragedy, coming at Christmas time,
also makes me think of the Holy Innocents, who died in place of Christ,
when Herod sent soldiers to seek and kill him. I heard several people on
TV express regret at the possibilities never to be fulfilled by those
20 little ones. This is a thought I always have when thinking of the
victims of abortion, especially
survivors of abortion, often then left alone until they die, without sustenance or comfort.
I also
thought this morning of my high school-aged granddaughters, and of my
son who teaches in a Montréal CEGEP--roughly equivalent to a US Junior College.
We've had tragic shootings in schools in Québec, and this morning, I realized
that he, too, is vulnerable.
The Second Cup Coffee Shop is my favourite place to have a coffee with a friend, or, in this case, my younger son. Marc was with me for Christmas, and we had a great celebration and much conversation. He returned to Montréal this morning.
Second Cup viewed from the entrance.
