General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsOne of the saddest things I've read from uvalde
This just crushed me. I tried to fact check to verify the source, but either way, powerful. For those of us that have been so lucky to not experience the death of a child. Written by one of the Uvalde victims moms:
"The chicken soup in her thermos stayed hot all day while her body grew cold.
She never had a chance to eat the baloney and cheese sandwich. I got up 10 minutes early to cut the crust off a sandwich that will never be eaten.
Should I call and cancel her dental appointment next Wednesday? Will the office automatically know?
Should I still take her brother to the appointment since I already took the day off work? Last time Carlos had one cavity and Amerie asked him what having a cavity feels like.
She will never experience having a cavity.
She will never experience having a cavity filled.
The cavities in her body now are from bullets, and they can never be filled.
What if she had asked to use the bathroom in the hall a few minutes prior to the gunman entering the room, locking the door, and slaughtering all inside?
Was she one of the first kids in the room to die or one of the last?
These are the things they dont tell us.
Which of her friends did she see die before her?
Hannah?
Emily?
Both?
Did their blood and brains splatter across her Girl Scout uniform?
She just earned a Fire Safety patch.
What if it got ruined?
There are no patches for school shootings.
Was she practicing writing GIRAFFE the moment he walked in her classroom, barricaded the door and opened fire?
She keeps forgetting the silent e at the end.
We studied this past weekend, and now she doesnt need to take the spelling test on Friday.
None of them will take the spelling test on Friday.
There will be no spelling test on Friday.
Because there is no one to give it.
And no one to take it.
These are the things I will never know:
I will never know at what age she would have started her period.
I will never know if she had wisdom teeth. (Or if they would have come in crooked.)
I will never know who she spoke to last. Was it the teacher? Was it her table partner, George? She says George is always talking, even during silent reading.
Did she even scream?
She screamed the lyrics to We Dont Talk About Bruno at 7:58 AM as she hopped out of my car in the circle drive.
She always sings the Dolores part, her sister sings Mirabel and Im Bruno.
And I wanted you to know that your bro loves you so
Let it in, let it out, let it rain, let it snow, let it goooooo
..
Did the killer ever see Encanto?
Could we have sat in the same row of seats, on the same day, munching popcorn?
What if Amerie brushed past him in the aisle? Did she politely say, Excuse me, to the boy who would someday blow her eye sockets apart?
Was he chomping on bubble gum as he destroyed them all?
If so, what flavor?
Cinnamon?
Wintergreen?
Was the radio on as he drove to massacre them? Or did he drive in silence?
Was the sun in his eyes as he got out of the car in the parking lot?
Did his pockets hold sunglasses or just ammunition?
These are the things I will never know.
There is laundry in the dryer that is Ameries.
Clothes I never need to fold again.
Clothes that are right now warmer than her body.
How will I ever be able to take them out of the dryer and where will I put them if not back in her dresser?
I can never wash clothes in that dryer again.
It will stand silent; a tomb for her pajamas and knee socks.
Her cousins graduation party is next month and I already signed her name in the card. Should I cross it out?
That will be the last card I ever sign her name to.
The dog will live longer than she will.
The dog will be 12 next month and she will be eternally 10.
What will the school do with her backpack?
It was brand new this year and she attached her collection of keychains like cherished trophies to its zipper.
A beaded 4 leaf clover she made on St. Pattys Day.
A red heart from a Walk-a-Thon.
A neon ice cream cone from her friends birthday party.
Now there will be no more keychains to attach.
No more trophies.
Surely they cant throw it out?
Would they throw them all out?
19 backpacks, full of stickered assignments and rainboots, all taken to the dumpster behind the school?
Is there even a dumpster big enough to contain all that life?
These are the things someone else knows:
The moment the semiautomatic rifle was put into his hands--was Bring Me a Higher Love playing in the gun store? Get off my Cloud by the Rolling Stones? Maybe it was Elton Johns Rocket Man.
Did the Outback Oasis salesperson hesitate as they slid him 375 rounds of ammunition?
not my problem my kids are grown and out of school
Or I dont have kids, so I dont have to worry about their skulls getting blown across the naptime mat 
Or fingers crossed theres a good guy with an equally powerful gun that will stop this gun if needed
Did they sense any danger or were they more focused on picking that mornings Raisin Bran out of their teeth?
My Nana used to say, Pay attention to what whispers, and you wont have to when it starts screaming.
But now I know there is a more deafening sound than children screaming.
More horrific even, than automatic rifles on a Tuesday morning.
I beg the world:
Pay attention to whats screaming today, or be forced to endure the silence that follows."
moonshinegnomie
(2,454 posts)I just posted it to Cancun Cruzs page
Blue Owl
(50,423 posts)Everyone needs to read this... Short of showing photos of the carnage, this cuts right to the heart of the matter at hand...
sop
(10,193 posts)Nevilledog
(51,121 posts)Dustlawyer
(10,495 posts)I lost a son in 1993. Reading this, seeing what happens in all of these school shootings, seeing the grieving parents, brings Christmas of 1993 back to me. My son should not be dead and neither should all of the others. There are a lot of parents alive today that relive their childs death each time this crap happens.
renate
(13,776 posts)I know you'd do anything to keep another parent from feeling your heartbreak and pain. I'm so very sorry.
3catwoman3
(24,007 posts)Last edited Fri Jun 3, 2022, 10:56 PM - Edit history (1)
...specifically for eloquently expressed grief, this mother's words would win.
secondwind
(16,903 posts)Initech
(100,080 posts)And seriously, the "shall not be infringed" people can go get royally fucked. People are dying mercilessly and senslessly, and you care more about your stupid fucking kill toys than you do about the bodies piling up and Americans scared shitless of being shot. Fuck you to the highest circle of hell. And shove your conspiracy theories where it doesn't shine.
panader0
(25,816 posts)nolabear
(41,986 posts)They use sanitized language, dont show images, make big points about protocol, go home and pretend its all no big thing. Meanwhile people die both incredibly fast, and very slowly from the inside out.
berk2804
(1 post)This was not written by a Uvalde mother.
It is upsetting to the parents who lost children as it is false.
llashram
(6,265 posts)was it written by?