Christmas Night in Newtown

After a beautiful Christmas at my parents' home in Newtown, we went home by way of the center of town. We saw the memorials to the 26 victims of the Sandy Hook School massacre of December 14. We didn't want to gawk or be a part of what's trending; we wanted to see what we feel so much a part of because--like the people from all over who have reached out to Sandy Hook--we are human beings.

Viewing the memorials and messages, I thought of the media and the flak they have received for totally goofing up the story in the first place and then for sticking around to get the story in the second. I remembered rolling up and down the radio dial on the way home from work December 14 and catching reporters taking in the latest tweet and reporting what had been reported on the other network in an effort to tell a story--to make some kind of marginal sense of a horror beyond belief. The people speaking were shattered men and women trying to get a grip on an enormity like no other in this part of the world for a very long time. These were people grappling with horrifying cruelty. And they totally screwed up. But they stuck around, and they told the story of people reacting with love and compassion. These are stories we wouldn't have if it weren't for the media. These are stories that are our story. These stories make it possible to go forward.

Our compassion looks like this. (This is the Edmond Town Hall at the center of Newtown.)


This open-armed, smiling monkey wept in the candlelight.

There red-nosed reindeer bore the names of each of the victims.
From December 25, 2012
There were messages from around the country letting the folks here know that they are not alone.
From December 25, 2012
Not alone. Not alone can feel like everything. Not alone can feel like Christmas. Because it is.  Please keep Newtown in your thoughts and prayers.  Please stick around until the sick get help and the armed are disarmed.

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18 Comments

  1. a very bittersweet christmas for you and yours...

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  2. I would be so angry right now in New town.
    This is the biggest sin ever!
    To kill innocent children is just
    inconceivable and especially when by a child himself.
    This is nothing short of the devil talking.
    Freedom has consequences.
    When I meet people who think their adult freedoms are more important than children, I think they are sick.
    We raise children.
    The future is about children.
    Life is about children.
    We were children
    And
    Now as adults
    children have to be our top priority.
    Godless people, raise poor children.
    OK now I raised a problem. lol
    When it comes to children love conquers all.Doors should never be closed to children.

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  3. Te deseamos desde las Islas Canarias Felices Fiesta para ti y los lectores de tu Blog

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  4. The beauty of this year's Christmas lied in bringing aboard togetherness.. just as you saw your people coming together for a cause, India moaned the agony of brutal gang rape case victim.

    Hope there are more ways than such reasons to unite communities.
    Merry Christmas.

    Take Care! :)

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  5. fitting tribute-life does go on and healing for the survivors-us all!

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  6. How hard it is to feel for them and be unable to express it. Just being there and feeling for those people must be painful, but we can't just forget about them on the grounds of helplessness....

    There's pain all over the world today, yes, in India too. But India's problem has been there forever - this time people just woke up to it.

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  7. Great post. At least the media stuck around and got it right.

    The nearest thing I can relate to was the Oklahoma City bombing when all the buzz at first was that it was a Arab terrorist.

    People still bring teddy bears, notes, and candles to the memorial in Oklahoma City. Sandy Hook should never be forgotten either.

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  8. Sometimes the medias are really awful ! In Belgium school children planted 26 trees for each vicitim in Bastogne
    you can see pictures here

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  9. Totally agree Sandy, and what a perfect post too.

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  10. Beautiful and sad at the same time. Sending good healing thoughts to everyone there this holiday season.

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  11. I hope everyone sticks around too. Many prayers coming from this sector for sure.

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  12. Beautiful post, Sandy.

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  13. A very touching post, Sandy. It must be so difficult to see Newtown at this time. Bittersweet, for sure.

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  14. Thanks for sharing this story of a very sad place. What a shame has happened here.

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  15. Beyond belief, One wonders if this could have been prevented, and for those folk who knew him saw that his mind must have been scrambled?

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  16. Thanks for your comment

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  17. I'm so sorry for the mums and dads that lost their kids, and for their sisters and brothers..when I heard Newtown and what happened there, I was thinking at you, wondering if it was not in your area.. and now I really know that is so..

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  18. and not to forget the grandparents and great grandparents..
    so sad, so sad..

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Thanks for being here.