There are certain moments that shake your core and have you question what you know about the world. The shooting in Orlando has become one of those moments for me. On the morning of the shooting, I woke up to my husband asking me if I’ve looked online yet. When I responded “no” he quickly told me about Orlando. With both of us being Florida natives, my heart sank as I grabbed my phone to learn more. Details were still unclear that morning but I continued to watch the updates with a heavy heart.
Any act of violence is hard to understand, but when it’s fueled by such hate and creates such a large scope of pain, it become incomprehensible. I watched a lot of interviews and witness accounts and there was one that stood out and made me break down. It was a mother whose son had gone to the club to celebrate his birthday with his boyfriend. And as I watched her face and heard her desperate words to understand what happened to her son, my heart ripped in two. I looked at my sweet innocent two-year-old and suddenly I was sobbing.
I wanted to grab him and not let him go. I wanted to pack up and move to a remote place where no one would find us. I wanted to protect him from this world. And as I grabbed him to hug him and kiss him, he giggled and wiggled and went back to playing. His sweet face and sincere smile reminded me of the hope I should be clinging to. I don’t need to run and hide. Evil can find you anywhere. I need to take a lesson from my toddler and find the joy that exists.
As a mother, we all want to protect our children from the worst but we also need to teach them to look for the good. I don’t want to raise him to fear and avoid what is in our world. But rather, look for the special, find the beauty, share in the love, and embrace each day as a blessing.
Every single victim of the Orlando shooting was someones child. Every single one of them was loved by someone. There are hearts breaking and people mourning. We will never understand why things like this happen, but if we let these events change us or scare us from being a part of this life, than those committing this violent win. I refuse to let hate overpower love.
So I will hug my son a little longer. I’ll give him extra kisses. I will spend extra minutes just watching his face. And I will teach him to be good, to be kind, to love his fellow man, and to fight against evil.
“Be the change that you wish to see in the world.” – Mahatma Gandhi
