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| Our children live, thanks to you Point of View By Angela McNerney Feb. 25, 2004 Related stories:
Feb. 9 was the first time since he was two weeks old that I took the time to watch my son's chest rise and fall. When he was a baby I used to wake up in the middle of the night and put my hand there just to make sure he was breathing. Fourteen years later, his breathing became a cherished thing again. For many of us, the parents of students at Columbia High School, time stood still the moments after we heard that shots were fired. But today my son is safe, isn't he? The fear and trepidation linger because we all know how it could have gone so terribly wrong. We all know what could have happened. We had all witnessed Columbine. But for a couple of men who acted heroically, we could all be feeling a whole lot worse today. We might well be feeling the crippling hangover of incredible disbelief and horror over the deaths of our own children. It takes a special kind of human being to put his own life at risk in an effort to protect others. Michael. Bennett and John Sawchuk could have run. They could have waited for authorities to come and stop an angry boy seemingly determined to kill. And by then our worst fears might have been realized. But their instincts told them otherwise. As the mother of a very precious life, I'd like to thank those two educators - but it sounds too small. I'd like them to know that there is a powerful ripple effect because of their swift actions in bringing down this gunman - one that will be felt for generations. It will be validated by every success each one of these Columbia students accomplishes. It will be validated with every idea that moves the world closer to where it desperately needs to be. With every law passed that provides us with safer schools, every program developed to understand the plight of disturbed children. It will be felt by every parent who could hold their children that night - the children they have always known will do rare and magical things in the world. The children who now, perhaps, will become adults who also can act heroically in a time of need. I don't know if you can possibly grasp the magnitude of what you have done. But I can. I was given an up-close opportunity to imagine what the earth would be like without my son. I can tell you, it was a picture of great promise, greatly diminished. Angela McNerney is a writer who lives in East Greenbush, Rensselaer County. |
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