I can't take in this recent school tragedy. As a teacher, a parent, a grandparent and a human being, I am heartsick at the senseless loss of beautiful children and teachers.
These beautiful words come straight from the blog of one of my favorite writers, Robert Brault. He always knows what to say and how to say it and his words (while they make me cry -- again) have given me some comfort and eased the aching that I feel in my heart as I contemplate this horrific event.
A Mother's Reverie
Child lost, do you suppose
That we could ever be apart,
That though you’ve left my yearning bosom,
You could ever leave my heart?
Do you suppose that though the years
Bring what they may of joy and strife,
I’ll e'er forget that once there stirred
Within me your sweet precious life?
Do you suppose that there will come
A morning when I’ll not arise
To live again that day when last
You turned to me your trusting eyes?
Child dear, I know you dwell
Within the Lord’s protective might,
But do you know how brave you were
And how I long to hold you tight?
"If there is consolation, it must come from knowing that others have suffered the cruel loss of a child and have recovered to find purpose in their lives. We exist in a cycle of relentless restoration and renewal, a cycle in which the spring returns and that which seemed forever gone is reborn. Those who go before us lead the way, and who knows what divine purpose resides in a child taken from us prematurely."
