As I do most mornings, today I got up, got dressed and took my oldest to school. He’s a sophomore. There was a time when I would complain about this process, because the school is most definitely within walking distance from our home. But, over the course of this school year I have grown to cherish the time with him in the car. It’s a time for us to just talk. About any and everything. I know… a whole five minutes, but a lot can be said (and not said) in five minutes.
Today, when we arrived at the school we did our normal exchange… “Bye Babe. Have a good day!” “Bye mom, you too” And then, “I love you” and “I love you too”. Everyday, like clockwork, this is how he exits the car. Everyday. But as he closed the door today, I felt this rush of “what if that is the last time I see him? What if someone shows up at his school today with a semi-automatic weapon and he is not one of the ‘lucky ones’? What if, in an effort to help him prepare to change the world, I lose him to the world?”
It was not that long ago, when someone’s son and someone’s daughter was lost. And everyone took to social media and the news. More stringent gun laws. More teachers trained and armed. More mental health screening. More this. More that. Everyone has an opinion on how to resolve the mass shootings that have plagued our country for far too long. Everyone believes their way is not only the right way, but the only way. Mass shootings, a tragedy that should be uniting our country, have become just another divisive weapon against us.
I absolutely love how the youth involved in the latest shooting are speaking out for change. I love how they are exercising their right to voice their opinions and demand more of the elected officials who were put into office to serve them. And, anyone who thinks they are being paid or bribed should think again. Those youth watched their friends and teachers be murdered with the fear that they could be next. If you were watching someone you loved be murdered would it take a bribe to get you to speak up? Probably not.
Change is long overdue. And, I don’t just mean new gun laws. Nor do I simply mean better care for mental health patients. I mean all of it. We cannot continue to follow laws and solutions based on little to no technology and accessibility. That is not the world we live in today. Times have changed and so must the laws that protect us. It is going to take compromise from all parties involved. The problem is multi-faceted. The solution must be as well. Yet, this cannot happen if someone from all sides is not present at the table of decision making. It’s called compromise: an agreement or a settlement of a dispute that is reached by each side making concessions. And, right now, instead of yelling, name calling and degrading those who think differently, it’s time to sit down listen to their heart, their fears and their concerns and communicate with the goal of reaching an acceptable plan that unifies, protects and realigns the priorities of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
“Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.” – Martin Luther King, Jr.
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