Family and Festivities

As I've stated numerous times before, December is by far my favorite month of the year, mostly due to the fact that it means Christmas is right around the corner. From the holiday's build-up, fun festivities, delicious treats, awesome gifts and more, I love it all. As corny and cliche as it sounds, I get happier each day as Christmas draws near. There's so much to be excited about that it's hard not to be happy. However, even during the most celebratory times, anything is bound to happen. As I mentioned in my previous Injection of Inspiration blog post, death is inevitable and could happen at any instant, and it seems I spoke too soon. Unfortunately, there was a mass shooting today in my home state of Connecticut that took the lives of more than twenty children. 

First off, what kind of sick-minded, demented person would target children? Upon hearing the news at the end of my school day today, I was absolutely sickened and disgusted. It's always tragic to hear about a violent shooting in the news, but when it happens in your state or somewhere near you, it becomes ten times more frightening. What's worse is that these horrific happenings are becoming more frequent. While they aren't happening daily, there's still been more shootings in the last five years than ever before (or at least to my knowledge). There's some crazy people out there, and I'm not saying that they'll be going away anytime soon (if ever), but rather that we should attempt to avoid these rare occurrences at all costs. Granted, some things just can't be seen coming, but we also learn from these tragedies as well. 

As a Connecticut high school student, I expect more lockdown procedures to occur in the next few weeks to ensure we have the safest security for our school. I hardly ever watch the news, but I did today to find out what exactly was going on and President's Obama's subsequent speech, which was very well done. It's during these turbulent times that our nation bonds together, but these kinds of horrific events further the point I made in my previous post. Cherish every waking moment you have with your loved ones, especially if you happen to be a parent. While I'm personally not a parent (yet), I can only imagine what parents nationwide were feeling upon hearing of today's tragedy. 

There's no better time to spend time with your friends and family than the holiday season, as that's what Christmas is all about. Always appreciate what and who you have before it's too late. Please take  brief moment to pray for the victims and the families of the those killed in today's tragedy in Newtown. Thanks for reading and have a very happy holiday.