Because They're Ours

Weep with those who weep.

-Romans 12:15

It is hard to put into words the way tragedy affects us. As I sit here in our empty building trying to process yesterday's events, I'm not sure that the words will ever come. So often, we struggle to find meaning in tragedy. There is some part of us that wants to make sense of the senseless. I suppose there would be comfort in that if such a thing were possible, but I know it is not, so I will not bother wandering down that path.

Instead of trying to make sense of why these things happen, my mind keeps circling back to why they affect us so deeply, so entirely. In the sense that we normally think of the relationships that we have with one another, I cannot say that I knew the student we lost in yesterday's tragedy. I'm sure I possibly crossed paths with him at some point over the last six weeks, but I certainly can't recall ever having a conversation with him nor a circumstance in which I might have, yet this loss of life has shaken me to my core as I know it has for many in our community.

Some may say this reaction is because our minds immediately place our loved ones in that position and imagine ourselves being given that devestating news, and I am sure that is a large part of it, especially for those of us who have children. That pain is unfathomable. For many in our community, that may be the entire reason for their grief this morning, but I think for those of us who answered a calling to be educators there is more to it. When we become parents, we feel an immediate connection to our children, even before they are born. We love them from the moment the concept of them enters our minds. We love them before they speak, before they even have a way of showing a personality for us to get to know. We love them because they're ours.

I'm not here to say that educators love students in the exact same way that parents love their children. That is an absurd statement to make. There is no love on Earth like the love of a parent for their children, but there is something to the immediate sense of responsibility we feel for students the moment their name is on our roster. We do not have to speak with them or get to know their developing personalities to feel a sense of responsibilty for their safety and general well-being. It is why teachers spend money from their own wallet to buy food for kids who are hungry, to magically have a coat or pair of gloves show up for the kid who walks to school cold. It is why so many stories of tragedies occuring at schools uncover stories of unrivaled heroism on the part of teachers to protect their students. We do it because they're ours.

Because they're ours, the pain hits us in ways that we can never prepare for. Because they're ours, we will carry the scars of this experience with us forever. Because they're ours, they will be looking to us for comfort, and we will give them that comfort even while we know that we need comfort ourselves. Because they're ours, we will all lean on each other to make it through the coming days. Because they're ours, we will be strong for them and make sure they know school and the bus they ride to get here and back are still safe and that they are still loved. Because they're ours, we will find a way to be everything they need us to be even when we don't feel like we know how. We will simply do it because they're ours.