As my husband and I boarded our flight for an anniversary trip without the kids, I couldn’t help but wonder, “What if?” What if something happened to me? What if something happened to my kids, and I wasn’t there? For so many parents, these feelings of anxiety — the constant what ifs — are not reserved for a rare international vacation. They are present in everyday life when these parents are simply sending their children off to school. They’re afraid as their children board the bus. Afraid as they send their children off to college, ninth grade, and even kindergarten. Afraid of a school shooting.
At some point someone has to say enough is enough. Watching the news, we see one act of violence after another. A school shooting here and a school shooting there. Every single one is an undeniable tragedy, yet nothing changes. How many children do we have to lose? How many parents have to bury their sons and daughters? How many shootings will it take to make a change?
It doesn’t matter if you are a Democrat or a Republican, a liberal or a conservative, or anywhere in between. Losing a child is something no one should ever have to go through — and certainly not when it is preventable. For those who argue the side of mental health coverage, you are 100% correct. And for those who argue for stricter gun control laws, you are also 100% correct. It doesn’t matter how we get there, let’s just get there.
Recently, People Magazine made a call to action — reaching well beyond the typical article with pictures of victims of the most recent school shooting or a feature on the history of the shooter’s mental health. The editor asked readers to get proactive. The magazine shared the phone numbers, email addresses, and Twitter handles of all 535 voting members of the House and Senate and urged readers to contact their representatives and let them know that something must be done.
We are including the link to that information here with the hopes that something changes before we turn on the news and see one more horror story — before it affects us in the way it has so many other moms, with a tragedy involving our own children.
