It takes a community

I had a hard time leaving Cary and Dean today at school.

As soon as I stepped out the door, the tears fell.

It wasn't until that very moment that I realized the enormity of leaving your children behind for someone else to care for -- and expecting that you will see them again at the end of the day.

I have been a wreck all weekend, thinking of the children in Connecticut and their families, and the teachers who died trying to save them.  We also had a bit of a family emergency this weekend with my sister Kadija and her kids, and so I have been thinking waaaay too much about child safety and child welfare and the uncertainty of life.

I have also been thinking about what a tremendous blessing and privilege it is to get to raise little human beings. And what a wonderful thing that I can trust others to look out for them.

Like our President said last night in a beautiful and moving speech to the Newtown community:

With their very first cry, this most precious, vital part of ourselves, our child, is suddenly exposed to the world, to possible mishap or malice, and every parent knows there’s nothing we will not do to shield our children from harm. And yet we also know that with that child’s very first step and each step after that, they are separating from us, that we won’t -- that we can’t always be there for them.

They will suffer sickness and setbacks and broken hearts and disappointments, and we learn that our most important job is to give them what they need to become self-reliant and capable and resilient, ready to face the world without fear. And we know we can’t do this by ourselves.
It comes as a shock at a certain point where you realize no matter how much you love these kids, you can’t do it by yourself, that this job of keeping our children safe and teaching them well is something we can only do together, with the help of friends and neighbors, the help of a community and the help of a nation.

And in that way we come to realize that we bear responsibility for every child, because we’re counting on everybody else to help look after ours, that we’re all parents, that they are all our children. 

I couldn't have said it better.

Today, my heart is feeling many things. But mostly, I am grateful for all the people who look out for my children every single day, as if they were their own.

Praise God for all of you. And may God bless the families of the people killed in Newtown last week, and watch them and keep them and wrap His love around them.

And may we all do a better job of caring for our communities' children from here on out.