I haven't written much about what happened in December. What is there to say that hasn't already been said? (And truly...some of what has been said would have been better left unsaid, I think.)
And while I felt so close to this—happening, as it did, so near to my hometown—it didn't happen to me; going on about it at length seemed inappropriate. (Honestly? I wondered whether writing about it at all was appropriate, reading the comments and e-mails I received; the well wishes were certainly greatly appreciated, but they did make me a bit uncomfortable because I was so far removed from it compared to so many other people.)
Donni at The Magic Onions wrote what I think might be the wisest thing I heard or read about it all—
We are all indescribably sad. We send a prayer to those families who are going through this tragedy even more than we are. But we will give them the respect of letting the depth of their grief be theirs… we will not claim it for ourselves.
I consider us fortunate that, at the end of the day, our connections to those lost were distant. The principal—whom my mother and I immediately recognized as someone we had once known but couldn't figure out from which school or through which child—once taught at our middle school. My brother and I went to high school with the parents of one of the children, but we knew them only in passing. My cousin went to college with one of the teachers. The daughter of an old, dear friend sang at a funeral.
Faint connections, all, but nonetheless reminders of how closely intertwined we all truly are. Deep enough, perhaps, to stir in me a strong, persistent desire to do something.
And then we went home for Christmas, and it was all still very real, and very raw. Everyone was talking about it, and no one knew what to say or what to do. We wore ribbons and set out luminaries. We avoided the obituary pages in the local paper and read the front pages over and over again. We watched a reporter with New York City news station broadcasting live from somewhere in Newtown and asked each other: When are they going to go home and leave these poor people alone already?
We discussed—at length—how surreal it all was, that this thing that only happens Elsewhere, happened Here, just down the road.
In the middle of all this, I had a message on Facebook about an auction being organized with From the Heart Auctions by Rachael of imagine gnats and Kelley of casa crafty. The auction, which runs from today through the end of the week, will benefit Newtown Parent Connection.
I'm riding a doll-making wave at the moment—and I've actually become pretty good at it—so I decided to contribute a Waldorf-style doll made by my own hands to the auction. And here she is—
Mollie was a true labor of love, and is absolutely the most well-constructed doll I've made so far. I am honored that she is part of this auction and I can't wait to find out who she will go home with & be loved by at the end of the auction.
If you'd like to see all the beautiful things on offer, visit the auction page at From the Heart Auctions. To bid on an item, leave a comment on the photo with the amount you'd like to bid and your PayPal e-mail address so you can be contacted if you win. Bidding opens this morning and runs through Friday at 10 pm EST.
