I have a 9 year old daughter, only a few months older than the little girl that was killed in Arizona over the weekend. This morning I read that her father made her breakfast and then sent her with a neighbor to see our democracy in action. 

I make my daughter breakfast every morning and send on her way to school without much of a thought. I try to always remember to tell the kids I love them and to have a good day at school and then I’m off to work. Pretty much the same thing that happens in lots of houses every morning all over the country. 

It has never occurred to me that one of my kids might not come home at night. Of course I know all the sayings: ‘you never know’, and ‘live every minute like it’s your last’ and all that, but in the flow of every day I must admit I rarely think about it. 

I realize this is just 1 incident, perpetrated by a human waste product, but still it highlights the fact that life can be altered in an instant. 

Like most Americans I’m sickened by what I read about the tragedy in Arizona, but I’m not sure it will change my view of the world any. Maybe I’ll give my kids a hug when I send them off in addition to telling them that I love them. I feel like these kinds of things should alter my behavior and my thinking about life, but I fear it will only cause me to temporarily pause, appreciate how lucky I am, and then move on. 

I hope the my prayers, along with everyone else’s, will matter to the people involved in such an awful event. I also hope I’m smart enough to take a little something away from this whole thing.