My heart is so heavy right now after yesterday’s tragedy. I remember exactly where I was 10 years ago during Sandy Hook and how devastating it was even before being a mother. Now as a mom, I’m even more shaken up by the evil in the world. Yesterday, Maxon had his second appointment for his cavity fillings. The first attempt was no good as he wouldn’t sit still for the laughing gas. I was so upset that we drove all the way from Kingsville to Corpus for nothing, especially with today’s gas prices. We were rescheduled for May 24th, and after Maxon’s procedure, I heard the horrible news. Because of this little inconvenience, I had to take off work yesterday for Maxon’s appointment, but it made all the difference. It meant I could hold him tight while all the devastating news unfolded. It’s the small changes in life that make all the difference. I know these parents would give anything to go back in time and change things if they could. To think that most parents were just at the school hours before the tragedy for the school’s award ceremony. To think there were only two more days left of school. To think of how parents are probably wishing they could change back time and have taken their kids home after the awards ceremony instead of letting them return to class. My heart absolutely breaks for these families, because they could have never anticipated the consequences of sending their students to school that day.
I’m sad, I’m angry, and I’m scared of the future for my son and other families. Columbine shook the world in the 90s and yet mass shootings have only progressively gotten worse. To say nothing has changed is not true. Things have changed, but not for the better. School shootings continue to rise with no end in sight. This is the 212th mass shooting this year alone in the US, where a mass shooting is defined as one in which at least 4 people are shot or killed. This is the 27th school shooting this year with injuries or deaths. We are not trying to push a political agenda. We are just trying to keep our children safe. But at the end of the day, mass shootings are political. Our lax policies are what keep allowing these tragedies to happen. Thoughts and prayers have proven time and time again to be insufficient in producing real change. We need true, political action to change our nation.
When is too close to home, too close to home? Robb Elementary School is only 3 hours away. Santa Fe High School was only 4 hours away when the 2018 school shooting occurred. Evidence has shown that more guns don’t stop more crime, but the opposite. Where are all the “good guys” with guns to protect us? We have concealed carry in Texas, yet, we still had the El Paso Walmart shooting. A concealed handgun carried by a civilian doesn’t stand a chance against a highly armed perpetrator with an AK-47. The only hope we have is in stopping people who shouldn’t have these types of guns from getting these guns. And to all the “good guys” who need their guns, you should have nothing to worry about. We don’t need guns banned, we need them controlled. This doesn’t have to be a slippery slope. If we can put limits on the amount of formula parents can buy to feed their infants, we can put limits on guns. We just need change.
I shouldn’t know someone who has died in a mass shooting, but I do. It’s becoming so common that at some point we might all know someone lost in a senseless act if nothing is done. We have lowered our flag to half-staff too many times over these horrendous acts. Nothing will ever bring back the lives that were lost yesterday, but we must do everything we can to honor them and remember them by being the voice of change. Enough is enough, we must do better.
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Rest in peace to all 21 innocent souls stolen yesterday.
Nevaeh Bravo
Jackie Cazares
Makenna Lee Elrod
Eliana Amyah Garcia
Irma Garcia
Uziyah Garcia
Jose Manuel Flores
Amerie Jo Garza
Xavier Lopez
Jayce Carmelo Luevanos
Tess Marie Mata
Maranda Mathis
Eva Mireles
Alithia Ramirez
Annabell Guadalupe Rodriguez
Maite Yuleana Rodriguez
Alexandria Aniyah Rubio
Layla Salazar
Jailah Nicole Silguero
Eliahana Torres
Rojelio Torres