Trying to find good . . .

Today is Tuesday.  Friday afternoon, for reasons we may not ever truly know, 26 people were murdered at a school in Newtown, CT.   Like many I'm still trying to process, even though I am 2000mi away and have never been to Newtown.

Maybe I'm Pollyanna.  I don't know.  Maybe I'm grasping for straws.  It's entirely possible.  All I know is that 20 babies were killed and 6 adults died trying to protect the innocents in their care.  I don't know much else about what happened Friday morning.

I also know I believe in God and I believe evil exists.  I have read the writings of a lot of wise people in the past few days attempting to answer the, "Why?".  Since I'm not wise I'm not even going to begin to tackle that.

Another thing I know: When tragedy strikes, as it did on Friday morning, people rally together.  People stop what they're doing and pray A LOT.  People hug their kids more and make sure loved ones are sent out into the world with a hug, a kiss and an "I love you!" People try to find a way to help.

As I'm still trying to process Friday's tragedy I'm looking for good because otherwise I'd be curled up in the fetal position hiding under my covers with my kids and not ever re-entering the world (tempting as that is . . . ).

Here are a few things I've seen and/or experienced in recent days:

**Parents putting aside the "to-do" lists and the busy-ness of the Christmas season to be intentional about time with their kids after being reminded how precious life is

**Parents hugging their kids tighter and saying, "I love you" more

**Parents being more patient with their children, realizing what a precious commodity time with them is

**A national dialogue about mental illness

**A friendship restored

**A recognition of teachers as heroes

**A lot of prayer.  Prayer is never a bad thing and there's no such thing as too much.

In case you haven't seen it, here are the victims and their birthdates. My son is 6 and my nephew is 7. Some of these kids who are gone too soon were born within weeks of my son.  One was born just 3 days after my nephew.  I was in elementary school when Rachel Davino, Lauren Rasseau and Victoria Soto were born.  My husband had graduated high school and was in college before Victoria was born.

Charlotte Bacon, 2/22/2006
Daniel Barden, 9/25/2005
Olivia Engel, 7/18/2006
Josephine Gay, 12/11/2005
Ana M Marquez-Greene, 4/4/2006
Dylan Hockley, 3/8/2006
Madeleine F Hsu, 7/10/2006
Catherine V Hubbard, 6/8/2006
Chase Kowalski, 10/31/2005
Jesse Lewis, 6/30/2006
James Mattioli, 3/22/2006
Grace McDonnell, 11/4/2005
Emilie Parker, 5/12/2006
Jack Pinto, 5/6/2006
Noah Pozner, 11/20/2006
Caroline Previdi, 9/7/2006
Jessica Rekos, 5/10/2006
Avielle Richman, 10/17/2006
Benjamin Wheeler, 9/12/2006
Allison N Wyatt, 7/3/2006

Adult Sandy Hook Elementary Victims:
Rachel Davino, 7/17/1983
Dawn Hocksprung, 6/28/1965
Anne Marie Murphy, 7/25/1960
Lauren Russeau, 6/8/1982
March Sherlach, 2/11/1956
Victoria Soto, 11/04/1985



I'm looking for the good because if I only focus on the evil it's harder to focus on the lives of the victims