@#97 ...
I have to also mention, the memory of that horrific occurence still lingers in this part of Connecticut.
These Sandy Hook survivors say memories of classmates inspire us' as they graduate from Newtown (June 2024)
www.newstimes.com
... In the beginning there were only flashes too disturbing for first-grade minds to reconcile -- alarming things they had never heard or seen.
Bangs and loud popping that would not stop. SWAT teams with big guns in the hallway. Chaos in the parking lot. Strong grownups crying inconsolably. News that friends would never come back.
But as time passed and first graders who survived the 2012 Sandy Hook massacre put distance between themselves and that Dec. 14 morning when everything changed, an uncommon kind of closeness seemed to enshroud them. From a police officer at the door on Christmas day with gifts, to teachers who always anticipated their needs, to the solidarity of classmates who shared the trauma that day, survivors made their way through the seasons of childhood feeling embraced by a closeness that some of them recognize today as one of their saving graces.
"It was such a dark time, and you can feel so alone, but it was really difficult to feel alone in Newtown because everyone came together so close," said Lilly Wasilnak, a 17-year-old at Newtown High School who is graduating in just a few days.
"We were all like a big family ... and the Sandy Hook kids, even if we didn't stay close friends, we always had each other to go back to"
As the mass shooting survivors entered high school and began to process what happened in 2012 when they were too innocent to understand, some survivors came to realize that the 20 first graders and six educators who didn't make it out of Sandy Hook Elementary School that day never really left them, but remained present in an inspirational way. ...
...
Companies have to know that this isn't the last word. A new, democratic, administration will reverse this action. So, what are companies to do? It would seem that their best course of action would be to follow the science. To do otherwise would jeopardize the long term viability of their companies.