For Connecticut

I kissed my kids goodbye this morning.  Told them I loved them and to be good for Dad and at school.  “Will, I want to see all smiley faces.”  “Grace, please be good for Dad today, no whining please.”  I kissed my sleepy husband and left for work, secretly relieved that my morning duties were over for the day and Mark would get them up, dressed, fed and out the door.  I spent the morning thinking about how busy our weekend would be, the crowds and rush of the Holiday Show tonight at school, all the million things I had to get done as the days until Christmas dwindle down.

So caught up in life, much like most every parent this Friday morning, two weeks before Christmas, that I might have forgotten to kiss my family and tell them I loved them.  To give them one last hug even though I was running late, because it never occurred to me that this might be the last time.  It’s just a Friday in December and my kids are young and I have so much to do.

My heart is broken for the parents in Connecticut who had the same exact morning I did, only to have their worlds destroyed in a horrible senseless instant.  To know that unwittingly, they gave their last kiss, their last hug to their child or favorite teacher.

Without any way to explain why this happened, all I can do is offer my prayers and thoughts to the families whose lives will never be the same.  Love your kids and families tonight. I know I did.