GREENSBORO, N.C. — This is, by far, the most difficult My 2 Cents I’ve had to write and talk about. It’s about the school massacre this week in Uvalde, Texas.
You probably don’t know this, but most of my family on my mom’s side is from Uvalde. Many of them still live there. My mom was born there. It’s the town we always heard about growing up.
My heart stopped when I first read there was an active shooter at an elementary school there. At the time, we didn’t even know whether anyone was injured.
I immediately called my grandpa to find out whether he’d heard anything. I was the first to tell him about it, saying it happened at Robb Elementary.
He immediately told me two of my cousins used to work there but had since retired. He started calling around to family in Uvalde to see what they knew.
He called me back a few minutes later to tell me one of my cousins goes to Robb elementary but her dad had picked her up just before lunch.
Keep in mind, that the shooting started at 11:32 a.m. Sounds like she just made it out.
My heart breaks for Uvalde and all of my relatives who live there.
For people who’ve never heard of the city of about 15,000, this is how they’ll remember it. Another small town added to the map of school shootings.
For the people who live there, this will always be with them. I can’t even begin to imagine this day for the parents of the little kids who died. I also can’t imagine being the parent of one of the survivors.
How do you help them recover from this day?
These types of shootings are happening so often and in so many places.
It’s gotten to the point where we’ll all eventually feel the impacts of a mass shooting, either directly or indirectly.
I’m heartbroken to say, this one was mine.