A heartbreaking shooting in Sweden rocked the world last week, and as my local public radio station broadcast the news, it stopped me right in my tracks. A translator read out part of Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson’s official statement:
Today we know that many, many people are in the depths of despair. Offer them all the support you can. Many children are frightened, so we must comfort them. We must take care of them. We all have a role to play in overcoming this deep grief.
The reporter moved on to another story, but I did not. I swallowed back a lump in my throat and fought back tears, not sure what exactly at the moment was overcoming me. Was it the tragedy of the shooting itself? Was it the sad reality that mass shootings are spreading to yet another safe haven? Was it that PM Kristersson’s compassionate words allowed me to feel the immense weight of the event, and of mass shootings in general? Or was it the feeling that his response was the human reaction we’ve been neglected for years in the US . . .
Continue reading @ Parks People.
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