Angel in Ixelles Cemetery
In a more perfect world, I would have never seen this photo of a beautiful little girl named Catherine Violet Hubbard.
I would have never known her name or anything about her, until she grew up and made a name for herself doing what she loved to do.
But last month as some people were thinking about the supposed forthcoming end of the world, it did end in some ways with the tragedy in Newtown, Ct.
That day, my three-year-old was home, sick. He was supposed to have gone to school that morning for his class holiday production. The children had all learned songs and made hats and were going to put on a show for their families. I had made goody bags for the kids.
Instead, I comforted my little guy and thought ahead to my other son?s Christmas production later that night. I may have been worrying I didn?t have Christmas cards in the mail yet, or what non-allergenic treat I could come up with for Christmas. I may have been thinking about the National Hugging Day post I had planned, to encourage people to ?pay it forward.?
I certainly wasn?t thinking about the news.
Then after picking up my kindergartener from school, I checked Facebook and saw post after post from friends about Newtown. And when I finally did check the news, I wished the people in Newtown had had a day more like mine.
For Newtown, it may have indeed seemed like the end of the world, with no alternate universe in sight.
Thinking about the lives lost a month ago, I still tear up at the thought that all the families in Newtown will never be the same again. That it didn?t have to be that way.
If there is a bright spot in this, it has been seeing the tragedy bring out the good in people. As I wrote in my National Hugging Day post, people started doing kind things for neighbors and strangers. Some people even gave a note with each kind deed in memory of each of the 27 people lost.
That is the idea of my post today, as part of a remembrance for each of the 26 Sandy Hook Elementary victims (plus the shooter?s mother) with the Global Team of 200 Mom Bloggers for Social Good. We are each taking a different day to write about each person and how we can honor his or her memory.
I am honoring Catherine, who was 6 years old.
Just like my 6-year-old son, Catherine is said to have had a heart for animals. Her family reportedly requested that in lieu of flowers, donations be made to the local animal shelter in her memory.
With Catherine in mind, my family will bring a donation to Sawgrass Nature Center and Wildlife Hospital the next time I take my preschooler to the weekly Nature Explorers class.
I am also donating $1 to Sandy Hook Elementary for every blog post written about someone who needs a hug, for National Hugging Day next Monday.
The Global Team of 200 bloggers hope that we as a society will never stop doing acts of kindness and paying it forward ? as we should, always, even when not faced with tragedy.
Please see my post on National Hugging Day for how you can help pay it forward.
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