Day of Silence

Sandy Hook

Tomorrow, my school's service club (me and many good friends) are holding a sale to raise money for Sandy Hook. This money will go towards counselling money, money for parents to take a leave of absence for work, funeral money, memorial money etc. We are selling candy canes wrapped with ribbons. The ribbons will be worn the rest of the week in Sandy Hook's school colors (green & white) to show support for the brave people of the school, relatives, and those affected.

I'm swamped by finals (it's the end of the term) and haven't had time for ANY crafts projects! However, I'm looking for little bits of fabric, clay, beads and other for my little village, which will be started after my 1000 cranes are done.

While I am struck by this tragedy, I am still amazed with how people have come together as communities to help Sandy Hook. Today at least 75% of my school wore green & white, the Sandy Hook Elementary school colours, while 5% wore blue & yellow by accident--the high school's colours. Wow. Hope, teamwork, and understanding will never cease to amaze me.

I went to the concert last night of the locked-out orchestra of our state. It was amazing. Beethoven's 9th was played (and as a classical music dork, of course, I was about to die of happiness!) and it was amazing. Again, in awe of the volunteers & supporters of the orchestra that came together, selling t-shirts, buying concert tickets, making buttons, yard signs, stickers. I have never clapped for that long-- the conductor and solo voices came out at least 5 or 6 times! So many standing ovations... and I was of course elated because I have never heard Beethoven's 9th performed live, with a chorale and everything.

Excited to start on a Christmas present for family friends when winter break begins!! For now, off to studying the Great Depression...

(p.s. Tomorrow is the Day of Silence for Sandy Hook, bloggers! participate, please!)

School Shooting

Imagine what it must feel like. Panic. Fire. Blood. This is a school shooting; this is what happened today at 9:40 a.m. in Sandy Hook Elementary School, Connecticut, USA.

It's not the pictures that kill me, surprisingly. It's the numbers. 27-- 20 kids, 6 teachers (including the principal, I think) and the shooter himself. I cannot even begin to express the grief that the whole nation is feeling right now. You know what hurts? Not paper cuts, not skinned knees. It's the fact that these kids' futures have been ripped away from them. Ages 4-10, these kids will never experience school dances. The first day of high school. Physics. Graduation. College. Professors. Weddings. Jobs. I mean, all it took was somebody with no right to pick up that gun, no right to fire it, "100 rounds" as one parent who was there described it. This is more than gun control, debating, or blaming Obama... this is more than a political brouhaha. Put away your arguments for a moment. Just breathe. Grieve for these lives lost. For all the futures that will never happen. For the teachers who aspired to make these children better. Pray no matter your religion. For survivors, parents, anyone directly or indirectly affected by this tragedy.

I guess this is learning about life. Another part in Anya's Learning How To Grow Up. The director of my school announced it today. She was choking up. Crying, almost. She said: "This could have been any one of us. You are all so precious...I know you think that when we have lockdown drills, it's just a silly precaution, but then something like this happens and it's not."

The weird thing is that I am not at all directly affected by this...not my school, relatives, friends, teachers. And yet I can feel. What's that emotion called? Long-distance sadness, maybe.

Today, I fold cranes for Sandy Hook. :)

Coming Soon: Pop-up cards are beautiful!