Last year, with the grief and shock of the mass Las Vegas shooting still fresh and raw, mom and writer Whitney Fleming sat down to write these words on her Facebook page for her blog, Playdates on Fridays. Thinking about what she would tell her three daughters about the tragedy, she said,
There are no safe places anymore. Not our schools or churches. Not concerts or malls. Not airplanes or subways. Sometimes the monsters even lurk within the confines of our homes.
There’s no safe places anymore, which is every parents’ worst nightmare.
And while I am grief-stricken for the tragic events that occurred in Las Vegas last night while I lay peacefully sleeping in my bed, while I am grief stricken and filled with rage and nauseous with the weight of how many lives this impacted, I am not shocked.
In the coming days, there will be an incessant need to validate viewpoints on gun control. There will be references to the Constitution and the Founding Fathers. There will be finger pointing at the NRA and the lack of support for the mentally ill in our country.
We won’t agree, so nothing will change.
So, I am not shocked that the deadliest mass shooting in our country happened last night, and I won’t be shocked when it happens again — because it will.
Instead, I will go over — again — what my children should do if they ever encounter gunfire. I will explain to them when they should run, when they should hide, and when they should remain silent. I will prepare them for this world and pray they will never need to use the information.
Photo: Facebook, Playdates on Fridays
