Comments on: Holding them close

By: Lucinda

Lucinda — Thu, 19 Apr 2007 00:29:12 +0000

There is a quote that says, “to have children is to forever choose to let your heart walk outside of your body” or something like that. Having children is an act of faith more than anything else I believe. Faith that they will be ok and that God will take care of them.

Tragedies occur but so do miracles. My daughter was born on Sept. 11, 2001. 2 weeks early. When I saw her, especially compared to my son born later, it was obvious she was earlier than she was meant to be. My water broke before I knew about the tragedy so it wasn’t because of stress. She just came. God knew.

On days like this, I hang on to that. Evil may exist but so does great Good.

By: becky

becky — Wed, 18 Apr 2007 16:30:50 +0000

Wow, Julie – thank you for that.

By: Ali B.

Ali B. — Wed, 18 Apr 2007 15:56:20 +0000

I think we’re all kind of fighting Evil itself, every day. Not necessarily in the big ways, but in the small ones. It’s so hard to tell kids about these things. But we have to – because this is the world they live in, that they will inherit. Oh, man, though. It is so hard. Thanks for putting it into words.

By: Cynthia Samuels

Cynthia Samuels — Wed, 18 Apr 2007 12:44:43 +0000

I know what you mean. On both counts. Among the memories I cherish the reading aloud of all the L’Engle series. There is something remarkable about the universe she has created – and amidst the evil, something empowering too. The magical, cerebral brother and strong, resourceful daughter — it’s a far cry from “save the cheerleader, save the world” – although that’s kind of fun too.

Unfortunately, I was a reporter for long enough to be involved in coverage of several of these kinds of incidents. There are no words for them; beyond the tragedy the toughest thing to me is the “might have been” stuff that always accompanies them. And of course the individual stories. In this case, the school and the lost were such a cross-section of our country at its best – from holocaust survivors to African American dorm advisors to confident, sassy 17 year olds with vaguely Middle Eastern surnames to beloved white-bread professors. Maybe we need to be proud of that diversity that shows a direction our country is moving BEYOND these senseless acts. AND to remember that this is what Bagdhad is like every day. I just thought of that. Holy cow.

By: Melanie

Melanie — Wed, 18 Apr 2007 01:29:01 +0000

That’s an amazing book. I’m so glad my son is still too young to have to know about what goes on in the world, because having to share all this with him would be too heartbreaking. I like that I have a little longer to shelter him from the storms.

By: julie

julie — Wed, 18 Apr 2007 00:04:16 +0000

The night I brought my beautiful 5-day old baby girl home from the hospital, Chernobyl happened. I, too, questioned bringing a baby into this terrifying world.

Fifteen years later she was at school on 9/11. Lil Daughter spent the day in the Art Room with all the other students and staff because it was one of the few in the school with cable. When I picked her up that afternoon, there was a beautiful painting, 4ft x 4ft, on an easel in the school lobby. It was the New York City skyline minus the Twin Towers. There were tears coming from the windows on the buildings. She had painted it while watching the news.

Bring your baby in to the world and love her, Becky. Our children are our hope.

By: Rache

Rache — Wed, 18 Apr 2007 00:02:12 +0000

I was at work already when it happend and did not get to hear it until I went for my break. My daughter is in college (far away from Blacksburg), but I kept thinking it could happen anywhere. That night instead of her coming home by herself, I picked her up, more for my peace of mind than hers. It’s never easy when a tragedy like this happens, but we have to keep living if only to keep evil from winning.

By: carrien

carrien — Tue, 17 Apr 2007 22:47:21 +0000

When I was pregnant with my second we had friends in Liberia who were being evacuated because of the war. THey had to leave two of their children behind because they were adopted and didn’t have the right papers to leave the country yet. I remember weeping, curled over my growing belly, terrified of the idea of having one more piece of my heart walking around so tragically vulnerable. That feeling never leaves, it just subsides and comes back to choke you in that moment when you can’t find them for a second too long, or another tragedy plays itself out nearby and those children become yours in your heart.

By: Brenda

Brenda — Tue, 17 Apr 2007 21:19:33 +0000

Thank you for this lovely post. I am a faculty member at VA Tech and my daughter is a sophomore there. We are both safe and were fortunate to have been across campus when the worst of it occurred. It is an incredibly sad time here …. It is just now beginning to sink in for many of us. The support from around the world has been incredible.

By: Chinjo

Chinjo — Tue, 17 Apr 2007 19:05:23 +0000

Good Post – my youngest son is in college (here locally, thank God!) My heart breaks for the families of this tragedy. All I could think of yesterday was “Thank God my son doesn’t go there” and I feel bad for thinking that selfishly but I can’t even imagine what all those parents are feeling – the ones who lost their children and the ones who will hold theirs closer because they were spared.

God Bless them all!!