This is essentially what happened at my daughters school a few years back. Yesterdays events brought back a lot of bad memories for the staff there.

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Kathleen, mom to one human, age 17, three canines, and a bunch of fish.

Hope your happy now!!!

Friends, please don't shift away from the focus of this thread. There is way too much pain right now without adding to it. Whatever your grievance, please don't air it here. Please.

The names of the victims at Sandy Hook Elementary School were released this afternoon and the Washington Post includes a lot of portraits: Newtown school shooting: Remembering the victims - The Washington Post. It is hard enough to lose the 27 year old teacher, the 47 year old principal, and the 56 year old psychologist, among others, but seeing so many names and sweet little faces of people ages 6 and 7 just breaks my heart all over again. And again. And again...

Let us honor the dead and hold the survivors in our hearts, thoughts and prayers. Whatever our differences, this is a time for keeping peace here. Please.

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Lucy, owned by Joker and Sunny, who remember Charlie with me
http://www.goldenretrieverforum.com/...years-old.html

Miranda Leitsinger / NBC News Michael Cragin with his 15-month-old English bulldog, Truman. Cragin's dog is giving out free hugs as a way to help the community heal from the school shooting tragedy at Newtown, Conn.



NEWTOWN, Conn. -- Retired special education teacher Michael Cragin couldn't sleep Friday night, thinking about the tragedy that had struck his community and claimed the lives of 20 children at an elementary school.
He wanted to do something to help, and when he saw his English bulldog, Truman, Saturday morning, he suddenly knew what he could do: his beloved canine could offer the grieving members of Newtown a hug.
Cragin, 63, and Truman, 15 months, came down to the local Dunkin' Donuts shop, where he opened up the hatch of his SUV and posted a handwritten sign: “My bulldog gives hugs.”
“He wants to give them that hug and that seems to be what counts,” Cragin said. “I hope I can make their day to some extent, that's all.”
Families stopped by to pet Truman. People asked the name of the dog. Sandy Hook resident Sarah Kehoe, a fellow bulldog owner, came over and said: “Love it.” Another man said: “He's a good boy.”
“It's the type of thing that people will for that brief second leave the nightmare behind, just to hug him, and that's what I was hoping on, because I don't know what else to do,” Cragin said, recounting how two teenagers girls stopped crying for a moment as they hugged Truman.
Cragin, who has lived in Newtown for 30 years and had also been a volunteer firefighter, said he believes he will know some of the families who lost a loved one since it's such a small, tight-knit community.
“I just was numb. I couldn't grasp what happened and as I lay in bed like 4 o'clock this morning I thought, you know, maybe if I get up, maybe it didn't happen, you know, maybe it was a dream,” he said. “The fact that so many children were impacted by this is beyond words for me … I'm totally shaken by it. I can't watch the TV or anything so this is how I opted to take care of it.”
Complete coverage of Connecticut school shooting
Cragin and Truman got down to the Dunkin' Donuts, where he knew there would be consistent traffic, at 7 a.m. By late morning, Truman had given out more than 100 hugs.
“I come out with the best intentions and then some people are happy,” he said. “There are others that approach him with tears and I basically remain speechless. I know I'm on the cusp of losing it ... so I have to just try to stand strong. But it's a horribly difficult time. To me, this is more gut-wrenching than 9/11 was.”
“I don't know how you come back from this," he later added, "but I know there'll be consistent and long-term efforts to do so. I just don't know how you do it from something like this.”

I completely agree with you GoldensGirl.

Carolina Mom: I heard about that wonderful man and his dog on the news this morning.

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[IMG]http://i265.photobucket.com/albums/ii215

Tonka & Tucker

SNOBEAR at the Bridge
Dec. 23, 1999-March 27, 2010


SMOOCH at the Bridge.
Feb. 14, 1999-Dec. 7, 2010

I'll be honest, I've been trying like hell to avoid thinking about this. I woke up having a panic attack Friday night, and couldn't go back to sleep for thinking about all the parents who laid in bed and never went to sleep, just laid there waiting for dawn to come. My two youngest daughters are 6 and 10. I was at their school Friday morning for holiday parties, we also live in a town where we think we are the safest place in the world. We have locked hallway doors that the receptionist must buzz you through to get down the hallway. I thought that made them safe. I was wrong.

I can't wrap my arms around the magnitude of what this has done to that entire town. It's not just the immediate families of the 26 who were murdered... It is the entire town who has had their lives changed forever. That school, could you imagine what it's going to be like to walk back in there next year? How are those surviving kids going to be able to walk back in there and focus on learning and having fun with friends. How are those parents going to get over the panic and worry of letting them go back in there.

i am so, so sad. I wish there was something to do... I haven't let my kids see any of this news coverage, I'm terrified that somehow they will find out about it and be afraid to go to their own school. I wish there were something to do for that town and those families.

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Ellie and Mack
http://www.k9data.com/pedigree.asp?ID=536873

In many ways, this happened to the entire country. I suspect that parents everywhere are living through this much as you do. Those of us whose kids are grown think of grandchildren or other children we know or simply remember our own days of parenting and grieve along with the people of Newtown. Many, many people far away from that little town have connections to the families of those who died or to those who witnessed the horror at Sandy Hook.

The Washington Post ran a column about how to help children process this: How to talk with young children about Friday’s events - The Checkup - The Washington Post. Perhaps you'll find something of useful in the column, which actually recommends telling children about the event.

Peace be with you.
Lucy

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Lucy, owned by Joker and Sunny, who remember Charlie with me
http://www.goldenretrieverforum.com/...years-old.html

From the AP....

At St. John's Episcopal Church, 54-year-old Donna Denner, an art teacher at an elementary school in nearby Danbury whose classroom was locked down after the shooting, said she feels the same way she did after 9/11 but isn't sure the rest of the country does.

"I don't know if the rest of the country is struggling to understand it the same way we are here," she said. "Life goes on, but you're not the same. Is the rest of the country — are they going about their regular activities? Is it just another news story to them?"

My answer to Donna Denner: Yes ma'am, we are all struggling along with you. This is not just another news story, we all feel the pain and we're praying for all of you and our entire country. For me and many others this has been another 911. Unfathomable, horrific, senseless pain.
May you feel the prayers and be lifted.

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Thank you Lucy,
I will go read it. It actually occurred to me that even though I have tried to shield my children, there is no way that I can hope it will not be mentioned on the playground or in a hallway or classroom tomorrow. It's going to have to be me who gives them the information. My 10 year old is a very bright and very high anxiety child and I'm so worried that is going to make her afraid at her own school. I can't even imagine what I will say to my kindergartener.

I am now getting angry, truly angry with that sick, evil young man who has hurt this entire country through the murder of children. I'll be honest, I have worried for many years that it would just be a matter of time until terrorists used a truck bomb at a school to hurt us. There is no more effective way of delivering pain and suffering to a nation than by mass killing of very young children. I just want to scream.

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Ellie and Mack
http://www.k9data.com/pedigree.asp?ID=536873

Nolefan I really feel for you having to discuss this horrific tragedy with your children, actually anyone who is a parent.

This tragedy has changed the lives of everyone I think, we no longer look at things the way we once did.

I believe things happen for a reason, but I can not understand this at all.
My heart hurts for all these families and this community.