heart and hope

Yesterday I surrendered to the tears I'd been holding for a few days. It was as if by holding the tears I could pretend it wasn't really true, that it hadn't really happened. Yesterday I sat and read the newspaper and let the tears flow, for those beautiful children and teachers and their families, and the whole Connecticut community.

The ensuing discussion about gun law reform in America has taken me back to the brief time I lived in Houston Texas. During the few months there I volunteered at a grief and loss agency set up to specifically support children in times of grief. I had been doing this sort of work in Melbourne before I moved to Texas and felt so grateful to have the opportunity to volunteer at this specialised agency and to learn more about American people and their society. Through this work and in my day to day conversations with people, I quickly learnt about the warmth and generosity of Southern hospitality and the deep religious faith that threaded the community together. I also learnt about the deeply embedded gun culture, particularly through the grief and loss work where gun related causes of death were commonplace rather than a rarity as they had been at the agency I worked with in Melbourne.

I am tremendously grateful gun ownership is not commonplace in Australia and is not part of our social mindset. I am thankful that the Howard government took action with the gun buy back following the Port Arthur massacre in Tasmania.

I wish President Obama a clear path to take action on gun law reform and in turn reduce gun related violence and death for American people.

Last night, I searched around other blogs to see what others were expressing at this incomprehensible time and was heartened by Amanda and Jodi's posts.

May peace and gentleness pervail xxx