Call of Duty

Webster's Dictionary defines duty as obligatory tasks, conduct, service, or functions that arise from one's position. There were many teachers on duty that December morning when a gunman decided to force his way into an elementary school and kill several teachers and many children. Sweet, innocent children.

Their duty was to protect their students and they did just that. They stood in front of their classroom and said take me. They laid down their lives for the sake of those children. We would all like to say we would have done the same, but thankfully we may not ever have that choice.

It's been a week since that horrible day and I still cannot believe what has happened. It was late Sunday night before I finally allowed myself to really take in what went on in Connecticut. I couldn't sleep that night so I turned on the news and listened and watched. The horror. The pain. The grief. I went into my babies room and wept. I watched her belly rise and fall with each little breath. I stroked her sweaty hair. I thanked God that my daughter was still a baby and not yet school-aged, because I wouldn't have the strength or faith to send her back to school.

I simply cannot imagine what the families are going through. Receiving that phone call, identifying their loved one, and laying them to rest. All of this with no answers and certainly no justice. This coward took 27 lives with no reservations and turned the gun on himself. But he's famous. Say his name in the grocery store or gas station or church on Sunday and everyone knows who it is you're talking about. He may not be famous in the way that most people would think of fame, but it is fame nonetheless. His name will be remembered and talked about for years to come.

Charlotte Bacon, Daniel Barden, Rachel Davino, Olivia Engel, Josephine Gay, Ana M. Marquez-Greene, Dylan Hockley, Dawn Hochsprung, Madeleine F. Hsu, Catherine V. Hubbard, Chase Kowalski, Jesse Lewis, James Mattioli , Grace McDonnell, Anne Marie Murphy, Emilie Parker, Jack Pinto, Noah Pozner, Caroline Previdi, Jessica Rekos, Avielle Richman, Lauren Rousseau, Mary Sherlach, Victoria Soto, Benjamin Wheeler, Allison N. Wyatt

These are the ones who should be remembered. The teachers and students. The students who had no choice that day and the teachers that did. The teachers that chose to answer the call of duty and literally put themselves on the front lines of education. The greatest casualty of this nightmarish tragedy is that these people are forgotten and the monster who created it all lives on forever.

My heart and prayers go out to the families of these people. I pray that God will wrap them in his everlasting love and give them the strength that they need right now.

"Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted..."-Matthew 5:4