Friday is the six-month anniversary of the shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn. Former U.S. Rep Gabrielle Giffords and Roxanna Green — whose daughter was killed in the same 2011 Tucson, Ariz., mass shooting where Giffords was wounded — mark the occasion with an op-ed piece in the Newtown Bee.
They write:
“Today, we send our love to the families of Newtown – the dads who won’t have their children with them on Father’s Day this weekend, the siblings who play catch and soccer alone. We know that the attention paid to anniversaries can feel surreal, as life without our loved ones is measured in moments and hours, not public markers.”
What the grieving families with whom we share a terrible bond all know is that they did not fail their children in the hours and moments before their deaths. What they now expect is for the government to do its job and to care for families throughout this country – any one of us – who could be the next victims of random and tragic gun violence.
They also note Friday marks a week since a gunman attacked people at Santa Monica College in California. “[W]e must do better,” Giffords and Green write.
A Newtown Bee photo from the day of the shooting was seen all over the world.
