I'm back, but not for a good reason

I have been away for a while. Life gets crazy, jobs get more involved, the kids require more time. All of this allows you to sink inside of your own bubble. You think the world begins and ends with your own personal tragedies.

Then you take a moment from your complaints and decide to look on the internet. You immediately see that your issues are really quite small.

27 dead.

20 children dead.

Gunned down.

All of a sudden, all you want to do is hug your kids and see them smile.

I tried to stay current and read the reports this afternoon, but I found that my only reaction was to cry. The girls were eating dinner tonight and I was sobbing by my computer.

I cry when I think about those poor kids who died. I cry when I think about the kids who witnessed their friends being taken away.

I cry when I think of the parents rushing to the school and praying to see their child's face in the crowd. I can't even imagine. I lose it when I even begin to comprehend the emotions they felt. 

I cry when I think of the teachers who will spend the months ahead consoling themselves, their colleagues, and their students after the atrocities they have witnessed.

And I cry for anyone who lives in a world where it is a real possibility to watch children die.

My heart hurts.

I pray that no one in the world, whether I know them or not, whether they are important to me or not, has to feel that kind of loss - a loss of a loved one, a loss of innocence.

I hurt. And I cry. And I hug my loved ones tighter than ever before.