There really is no debate. There is no greater loss than the loss of a child. In preparation for this summary, I re-read several articles about the senseless tragedy that unfolded only a few months ago at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn. It was truly numbing. Some of the parents of the 20 children killed who dropped them off at school that morning hold onto the hope that their kids are going to come home. Nicole Hockley still reaches for her son Dylan’s hand in parking lots, according to The New York Times. Another parent expects her son to crawl into her bed for hugs before "goodnight."
These parents will never be the same. These families will never be the same. As time passes, that community will return to ordinary life, but the lives of the families affected by the Sandy Hook shootings will never again be ordinary. They are now in the process of redefining themselves and are at a loss as to how to move forward. Somehow, they will move forward. The seasons will change, anniversaries and birthdays will come and go and they will go on. But, there will always, always, be the grief they have suffered that may dull over time but which will always be present every minute of every day.
