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Robb Elementary School Shooting (Texas) - 21 dead and counting

staywild23

staywild23

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As some of you may know, yesterday there was yet another mass shooting in the United States. An elementary school, with 2nd-4th grade students, was targeted and as of right now, 19 children and 2 teachers are dead.

I am an American and I am so utterly devastated by this, I can hardly breathe. Less than a decade ago, we had the Sandy Hook Massacre, which was all too similar to this. Before and since, we have had so many others. Just this year alone, so many school shootings. So many mass shootings. 11 days ago a supermarket in Buffalo was targeted and 10 Black people were killed in a racially motivated shooting.

The violence is just endless in this country. It’s endless and inescapable and nothing is ever done.

I can’t stop crying. I can’t think about anything else. I’m just so terribly sad.
 
staywild23 said:
As some of you may know, yesterday there was yet another mass shooting in the United States. An elementary school, with 2nd-4th grade students, was targeted and as of right now, 19 children and 2 teachers are dead.

I am an American and I am so utterly devastated by this, I can hardly breathe. Less than a decade ago, we had the Sandy Hook Massacre, which was all too similar to this. Before and since, we have had so many others. Just this year alone, so many school shootings. So many mass shootings. 11 days ago a supermarket in Buffalo was targeted and 10 Black people were killed in a racially motivated shooting.

The violence is just endless in this country. It’s endless and inescapable and nothing is ever done.

I can’t stop crying. I can’t think about anything else. I’m just so terribly sad.
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I didn't know about this. For various reasons I'm on a bit of a news diet so hadn't picked up on this. I will go and find out more. There will be a lot of coverage of this in the UK press, there always is. Although, that said, this supermarket shooting in Buffalo hasn't been mentioned. I would have noticed that.

Sending you warm hugs, sympathy and compassionate thoughts.

Which I know doesn't help at all and certainly doesn't change the situation. It's one of those times where all you can do is feel utterly helpless.

I don't want to say anything trite so am going to go now. I will say prayers for all those affected by this. That's all I can do.
 
zinniabooklover said:
I didn't know about this. For various reasons I'm on a bit of a news diet so hadn't picked up on this. I will go and find out more. There will be a lot of coverage of this in the UK press, there always is. Although, that said, this supermarket shooting in Buffalo hasn't been mentioned. I would have noticed that.

Sending you warm hugs, sympathy and compassionate thoughts.

Which I know doesn't help at all and certainly doesn't change the situation. It's one of those times where all you can do is feel utterly helpless.

I don't want to say anything trite so am going to go now. I will say prayers for all those affected by this. That's all I can do.
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Thank you for your loving words. Though it’s certainly not *my* tragedy, in the sense that I’m not personally touched by it, I am so deeply devastated and feel at a loss for what to do next. It’s just too common in the United States. It’s constant. Sometimes it’s hard to leave the house because there’s just the constant thought that it can happen anytime, anywhere.

There are so many horrific injustices in the world. Idk if *this* sounds trite to say, but when I found out I thought of Michael almost immediately. His kindness, his message, his desire to protect children from the horrors of the world, and how we are so completely failing.

Ugh. It’s just a hard thing to deal with. There’s so much bad and it’s hard to find any hope at times like this.

Anyway, thank you for replying. I know it’s a depressing thing to post about in this forum. I almost didnt, but I searched old posts and saw that people have posted about mass shootings many times over the years so I thought I would. Still torn on it. Either way, I appreciate your kind words.
 
staywild23 said:
Thank you for your loving words. Though it’s certainly not *my* tragedy, in the sense that I’m not personally touched by it, I am so deeply devastated and feel at a loss for what to do next. It’s just too common in the United States. It’s constant. Sometimes it’s hard to leave the house because there’s just the constant thought that it can happen anytime, anywhere.
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The first thing I did after posting was to go and look at some Michael quotes. I needed the comfort even though it's not 'my' tragedy either. And although it's not 'your' tragedy in the strictest sense it hits you hard because you are American. Over here, we'll be upset and horrified but I don't think the devastation runs quite as deep when the tragedy is an ocean away. In the UK we are still devastated by the Dunblane tragedy which happened a lifetime ago. In the US it happens so often. I guess there'll be a lot of talk about gun culture and then it will all die down until the next time. That's how it usually goes, I think.

staywild23 said:
There are so many horrific injustices in the world. Idk if *this* sounds trite to say, but when I found out I thought of Michael almost immediately. His kindness, his message, his desire to protect children from the horrors of the world, and how we are so completely failing.
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The two Michael quotes I'm holding close right now are:

"That's the theme of my world show: be kind, heal the world. Let's walk out of here a different human being."

"I will never stop helping and loving people, the way Jesus said to."

I'm not saying these quotes directly speak to this situation with the school shooting. I don't know the details of who did it or why. But these are the two that jumped out at me, seeming to offer the most comfort right now.
staywild23 said:
Ugh. It’s just a hard thing to deal with. There’s so much bad and it’s hard to find any hope at times like this.

Anyway, thank you for replying. I know it’s a depressing thing to post about in this forum. I almost didnt, but I searched old posts and saw that people have posted about mass shootings many times over the years so I thought I would. Still torn on it. Either way, I appreciate your kind words.
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It's good to get things off your chest. Better out than in. And it does fit in with Michael's work. He was all about love, peace, kindness, tolerance. Let's lift one another up, let's not destroy one another. Let us try to be kind and patient.

I don't know what else to say. Except, take care of yourself.
 
zinniabooklover said:
In the UK we are still devastated by the Dunblane tragedy which happened a lifetime ago
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it's like Port Arthur, it's what made the government authoritarian and take guns away from the population

Thankfully the U.K had Philip Luty who actually understood that because a few evil people do something bad the government should not interfere with guns
 
It must be scary and sad to have something like this happen every week. I can only imagine how devastating the news is, especially when involving small innocent children.

I don't really understand why it is so difficult for US to create stricter gun laws after so many tragedies. There are many countries with high gun ownership, so it can be done without 'government taking away guns'. Unfortunately lobbies come in the way.

For now we can only pray for the people hit directly by the tragedy, and hope this stops soon.
 
I hardly ever go online for my news. But I did catch Senator Chris Murphy's impassioned plea:

"What are we doing? Why are we here?"

Two very good questions.
 
Hiker said:
It must be scary and sad to have something like this happen every week. I can only imagine how devastating the news is, especially when involving small innocent children.
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It is honestly exhausting. The only time there weren't constant mass shootings in the US was during lockdown. It's really terrible. There is so much suffering and just so little done.
zinniabooklover said:
I hardly ever go online for my news. But I did catch Senator Chris Murphy's impassioned plea:

"What are we doing? Why are we here?"

Two very good questions.
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Senator Murphy's statement was really moving and represents how 90% of Americans feel. I often wonder what people think of us, internationally, when it comes to the rampant violence here. It's depressing to even imagine.

Thank you all for your kind words about this tragedy. I found myself listening to HIStory (the song) a lot yesterday and thinking about my place in the world and what I can do. So much is out of our control. I moved to a totally new community/region in the fall to start my faculty position, so I really don't know much about my area and have been shy about getting involved in the way I've been in other communities. But I do want to use this to propel myself to do more in the world to make it better.

Anyway, I am doing a bit better today. Yesterday was just massively painful. I had a panic attack before going into a conference for work because I was just so upset. I left early, went home and gardened for a few hours, went to the art store, drew another portrait of Michael. It all helped.
 
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