I am Parkland

Hi, as most of you know I live and work in Parkland.  Last week, our small town was struck by a horrific act. I have been hearing so many stories and have refrained from writing as of yet because, for the most part, I have just been helping people heal and coordinate services.

The Kids

I have 2 daughters and each day I ask them if they have any questions for me.  I tell them they might hear stories and I want to make sure they know the facts.  Last night, my 8 year old tells me, “Mommy, I don’t have a question for you, but I do have a question to ask the shooter.”  I said, “okay” and told her to ask me anyways.  She said, “why did he bring a gun to a school?”  I looked at her and at her innocence and I am so thankful that she has innocence and has the insight to think on her own. What I said was that the shooter was doing what he thought he needed do.  She said he was wrong.  I completely agree with her and understand where she is coming from.

Parenting

Our job as parents, at least I feel it’s our main job, is to protect our children.  Last week, parents weren’t able to protect their children and ever since then they’ve been questioning how safe life really is. To everyone that I’ve spoken with, I’ve said that we need to start with the words “I’m okay”.

We’re Okay

Theses words are different than “you’re safe” because there’s nobody out there that can tell us that our schools, streets, etc are safe right now in our town.  All we know is that we’re okay, moving forward and staying united as a community.

I’ve poked fun in the past, called our town “the bubble” because it seemed disconnected from the troubles of the rest of the world, but I’ve never been more proud to say that I live in Parkland.

These kids, this community and it’s people will not rest until change occurs and I truly believe that they’ll accomplish what others haven’t in the past.

I don’t want to have to hear the words again, “there has been another school shooting.”  We’re Parkland Proud, Parkland Strong and we will band together to get through this.

Each day that you’re okay, is the day you can get out of bed. Safe might always mean something different but we’re okay and strong right now.

I know I’ll write more about this as the weeks progress but I wanted to express my own feelings in this one.  We’re healing together and we’ll get through this together.

#ParklandStrong #MSDStrong #LoveMSD #Parkland #NeverAgain