When you love someone....

When you love someone
you want them to be safe.

When you put your little
munchkins on the bus,
sending them off to school,
you trust that all will be well.

When you walk
into your classroom,
ready to greet your students,
you trust all will be well.

Driving home from grocery shopping
this afternoon I turned on the CBC news
and heard of the tragic shooting
at an elementary school
in Newton,  Connecticut,
a town of only 30,000 people.

My hand automatically
flew to cover my mouth,
an instinctual gesture of shock.

The tragedy at VA Tech came flooding back.
Then I remembered gathering
 in the library at Fallon Park,
at the beginning of the day
just before the kids got off the bus.
We were told that Fallon received a bomb threat
late in the afternoon the day before
but the threat was deemed a low risk.

How do we keep our children safe?
How do we protect our teachers?



All I know,
at times when tragedy arrives
during the darkest days of winter,
I need to light a candle,
for those we have lost,
and for those left behind
whose hearts have been broken open.