A Moment of Silence

Yesterday morning, while sitting at my computer, I surfed to the homepage of the news and discovered that a tragedy had taken place. There had been a shooting at Virginia Tech. As I kept an eye on the news coverage, the death toll rose from one to thirty-two lives taken during the course of this senseless and tragic event.

After the initial shock of hearing what had happened, thoughts of my son immediately came to my mind. My son is currently away at college in the State of Virginia. Knowing that he is at a different university offered little comfort to me, as my thoughts raced to his own safety.

As a parent, this is one of those moments in life that is our greatest fear. A child leaves the nest to spread their wings, and you can only hope and pray that they will remain healthy and safe when they leave the comfort of their home and the loving arms of their parents.

My son is safe. Having heard his voice brings relief to my mind and heart. But my child has been touched by this incident. Two friends of his lost friends in the shootings at Virginia Tech, and one friend left campus to be with a friend who was wounded, bringing this tragedy closer to home.

This whole ordeal saddens me. So many lives are touched by this.

From those who lost their lives, to those left behind to grieve and make sense of this, to the nation that mourns with the mourners, I offer blessings of peace, love, and the warmth of healing light to bring comfort to your minds and hearts.

A moment of silence do I give, for the lives and souls of the departed.
A moment of hope do I give, that we remember those souls for their gifts of life.
For through their lives and their senseless deaths,
May we always remember how precious we truly are to one another.

Blessed Be.