Saturday, December 15, 2012

Judy Cried Today. A Lot


She cried in her car, when she heard of the shootings in an elementary school.  Thinking of all those kids.  She cried at home, when she told me about it.  She cried when she heard the president's condolences.  She cried when we drove into the Anchorage airport from Wasilla.

Thirty years teaching in elementary classrooms in Whittier, Palmer and Wasilla.  Two years mentoring student teachers in Kenai, Soldotna, Anchorage and the Valley.  Three and a half years mentoring first and second-year teachers in eleven Alaska Villages from Tatitlik on Prince William Sound to St. Marys on the lower Yukon.

I touched her warmly, and she brushed me off. "It only makes it worse," she sobbed.

There must be 100,000 grade school teachers around the country as saddened as my wife.

I hope this never happens again.







3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I am a lifelong gun owner whio has been robbed on several occassions throughout my 62 years. I had no weapon in my possession when these crimes occured. I own 31 rifles, 4 shotguns, and 13 handguns. I am an extremely left leaning lifelong democrat/progressive. I AM QUITE WILLING TO DIVEST myself of the handguns if congress so mandates. I will NOT surrender my other frearms; i believe my position is quite in keepin with the spirit of the 2nd amendment.

Anonymous said...

I cried, too. And I still cry when I hear/read the news. It makes me ill. I look at my students and my classroom with new eyes. Where could we go? My coworkers tell me they have the same worries. It makes me sick, sick, sick.

Worse are the people in this country who say guns are more important than the right to life.

Anonymous said...

I cried too, with memories of all the drills and conversations with kids after the drills. One day, a class did particularly poor at keeping quiet, so we really talked afterward about why quietness is really important to practice. My room had three doors I had to check, no office or storage area, and a movable wall. I cried for days and my heart s still sick about it. What would I have done, with such a poorly designed room?

I had a friend like this killer. He looked thin pale, he was smart, was teased in high school. I suspect he was physically abused too. He shot himself several years ago with a handgun. That makes me sad too, because we ALL know kids like this. Our culture must change in many ways to stop future kids from killing themselves and/or others.