I'm working something out here... try to stick with me...
So often in these horrors, the media sensationalizes the story for profit and makes the vile beasts that performed the obscenity some sort of despicable celebrity. So many can remember the names of various deviants... yet the names of the innocents they took from us are consigned to anonymity.
I say... ignore the identities of the beasts... let their vile attempts to achieve some twisted form of attention fail. Consign their souls to eternal darkness. Erase all memory of their very existence. Forget Them.
Let us instead remember only those Lost to us.
It is known that many of the teachers were taken...
shielding and protecting Their Children
The names and birth dates of the Souls taken too soon
~ Let Them Not Be Forgotten ~
Charlotte Bacon (2/22/06), 6 years old, female
Daniel Barden (9/25/05), 7 years old, male
Rachel Davino (7/17/83), Staff member, 29 years old, female
Olivia Engel (7/18/06), 6 years old, female
Josephine Gay (12/11/05), 7 years old, female
Ana M. Marquez-Greene (4/4/06), 6 years old, female
Dylan Hockley (3/8/06), 6 years old, male
Dawn Hochsprung (6/28/65), Principal, 47 years old, female
Madeleine F. Hsu (7/10/06), 6 years old, female
Catherine V. Hubbard (6/8/06), 6 years old, female
Chase Kowalski (10/31/05), 7 years old, male
Nancy Lanza, 52 years old, female
Jesse Lewis (6/30/06), 6 years old, male
James Mattioli (03/22/06), 6 years old, male
Grace McDonnell (11/4/05), 7 years old, female
Anne Marie Murphy (7/25/60), Staff member, 52 years old, female
Emilie Parker (05/12/06), 6 years old, female
Jack Pinto (05/05/06), 6 years old, male
Noah Pozner (11/20/06), 6 years old, male
Caroline Previdi (9/07/06), 6 years old, female
Jessica Rekos (5/10/06), 6 years old, female
Avielle Richman (11/17/06) 6 years old, female
Lauren Rousseau (June 1982), Staff member, 30 years old, female
Mary Sherlach (2/11/56), Staff member, 56 years old, female
Victoria Soto (11/04/85), Staff member, 27 years old, female
Benjamin Wheeler (09/12/06), 6 years old, male
Allison N. Wyatt (07/03/06), 6 years old, female
Tears burn as I think of the treasure lost and the torture being endured... I have to hold back a blinding rage and the desire to strike out... the desire to crush and destroy the evil that walks this earth... I choke on it.
But, Rage does not Honor and is no fitting memory of these women and these precious children.
What can we do? There is only one thing we can do...
Live as they would have...
Seek the Promise stolen from them...
Seek out Life... in their Names.
With tears staining my face, and a shattered and broken heart... that is what I intend to do... It is the only thing I can see to do that does these lost souls any Honor. I go on. I must.
~ ~ ~ ~
Late in the afternoon yesterday the storm started to fail... and the sun began its return...
This morning I awoke with a soft sunrise to welcome a clearing day... Another one of those First days of the rest of your life.
The dogs were bouncing off the walls after being cooped up for too long and we were able to get out, soak up the sun and breathe. It's easier here... in this solitude... to get things put in the right order in your head.
... the harder part is to maintain their order when you return to socializin' with the rest of humanity.
The engine sputtered and died... you can see the prop not moving in the small pic.
I thought for a few seconds the sunrise that had promised a fresh and hopeful day had lied and more sorrow was close... until whoever was piloting the thing... fired it back up... and then disappeared down below my horizon...
... apparently, there's a lil' strip over there... and this outfit was practicing dead stick maneuvering or engine stall recovery or some such. I'm not so sure I'd wanna do that... quite that close to the ground! Not a whole lot of room for error.
The dogs and I were able to finish our stroll in the desert with no more excitement... and returned to the rig with a better outlook than the gloominess that had descended around here.
The idea had been growing all morning... and it came clear on that walk... the words of Robert Frost and others...
The events of the past few days have driven home, one more time; I can't, we can't allow these events to lead us to destroy the liberties and the glorious potentials we all have. If you truly want and need to Honor the lives of those who are taken you must find the Courage to LIVE!
If their suffering is allowed to destroy that of our world that was good, it is yet another attack on them. We must Honor their loss by embracing LIFE not an ever greater assault on Liberty.
With that in mind I must rededicate myself to the pursuit of Life... to pushing out darkness with laughter... and finding that Joy that it is said; "Burns out the pain."
I'd run across this outfit surfing RV's the other day... and I this morning I thought... Floating Fresh Hope...
How awesome is this rig? It's not about the "Thing" either... it's about Life and fun and laughing through the tears. What choice do we have?
It is not sacrilege or inappropriate. It is exactly appropriate... especially this time of year... to seek out life and joy in the face of the things we cannot change.
With simple inspirations and a refusal to allow their memories to be tarnished by our quitting, I step off... One foot in front of the other, one more time, as...
Life Goes On...
Brian
8 comments:
Let me be the first to say...Hugs for these beautiful words for I believe this, too, is what those little ones would be whispering in their Mom and Dad's ears from somewhere in heaven.
The list of the lost ones was very touching. Thanks for posting it.
Thank you for post the list of names. My prayers will not only be for their failies, but also for all the helpers, the police, the fireman, the first responders there.
Awesome post!
Well said, thank you.
Very, very well said Brian!
Hi Brian! This is going to be a lengthly comment... I hope it will make it through...
When I fell in love with Arizona, I started reading lots of books to learn more. Many of them were referring to Desert Magazine. Which is not published anymore. For a long time, I tried to buy older publications and had no success.... and a while ago, I found by accident (but is there such things as accidents?) that a generous soul had scanned all the publications and put them online. And may I say this is a real treat.
Here is the editorial of the very first edition. In 1936!!! When I read it, I knew I had to share it with you... as a thank you for all what you are sharing with us through your blog. And FYI, I could not copy/paste so I have retyped everything ;)
Patricia
There are 2 deserts...
Once is a grim desolate wasteland. It is the home of venomous reptiles and stinging insects, of vicious thorn-covered plants and trees, and of unbearable heat. This is the desert seen by the stranger speeding along the highway, impatient to be out of “this damnable country”. It is the desert visualized by those children of luxury to whom any environment is unbearable which does not provide all the comfort and services of a pampering civilization. It is a concept fostered by fictions writers who dramatize the tragedies of the desert for the profit it will bring them.
But the stranger and the uninitiated see only the mask. The other Desert -the real Desert- is not for the eyes of the superficial observer, or the fearful soul or the cynic. It is a land, the character of which is hidden except to those who come with friendliness and understanding. To these the Desert offers rare gifts: health-giving sunshine, a sky that is studded with diamonds, a breeze that bears no poison, a landscape of pastel colors such as no artist can duplicate, thorn-covered plants which during countless ages have clung tenaciously to life though heat and drought and wind and the depredations of thirsty animals, and yet each season send forth blossoms of exquisite coloring as a symbol of courage that has triumphed over terrifying obstacles.
To those who come to the Desert with friendliness, it gives friendship; to those who come with courage, it gives new strength of character. Those seeking relaxation find release from the world of man-made troubles. For those seeking beauty, the Desert offers nature’s rarest artistry. This is the Desert that men and women learn to love.
Cindy, Don, BJ, Jerry, John, Janna and Mike; Thank You. I accept your kindness with gratitude, but know my words were truly only my good fortune to be able to serve as a reflector for Spirits of far more worthy purity.
Patricia; I don't believe I have ever heard of that Magazine. Thank You so very much for passing that excerpt on to us. They are awesome words. I don't believe the treasure of this desert and its deep rooted beauty and power could be painted any more brilliantly. Thank You.
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