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Saturday, Jan. 5, 2013 | 2:01 a.m.
The philosopher Kahlil Gibran’s meditation on children is a touching favorite among parents who have read “The Prophet.” In it, he captures perfectly the helplessness we feel as our children go out into the world, into the future, and necessarily leave us behind. He writes to us, “You are the bows from which your children as living arrows are sent forth.” While we understand that we cannot set the path of the arrow across the infinite or mark its landing, we want to believe that we are “the bow that is stable,” that our strength and love will help our ...
Susan Reimer is a columnist for the Baltimore Sun.
A good reminder, Susan.
This is one of the finest, and one of the most compassionate of reflections tributed to mother, Nancy Lanza, by writer Susan Reimer. Before any rush to judgement, we would be well served to remember that such a parental situation could have us in that position, but for the grace, and mercy, of God.
This tragic event is so very sad and incomprehensible. We pray for peace for those who remain, trying to understand.
Blessings and Peace,
Star
A reminder of just how COLD America has become, "Even President Barack Obama, when he visited the town, called out the names of each of the dead but did not mention hers."
Thank you Susan.
Failure to comprehend--by author and mother. I'm not sure parents can always comprehend but they could do with a bit more effort. You work with the cards you were dealt (the child you got) and do not pretend you can change your child into an "all-American" stereotypical macho man. The K-12 and parental failure to deal with this child when he was in grade school left him to his own devices. The phony attempt to home school him was a failure. The continued attempts to force him into the military, college, peer-group recreation were just not appropriate. She thought about committing the kid but seems to have not pursed family counseling--before or after breaking with the father. This child, like so many of the rest of us, was not abnormal. He was simply not average. We as a society and culture are so UNACCEPTING of small differences, of individuality. This kid had more than adequate intelligence. I still say it is obvious he was bullied and traumatized endlessly in K-12 but no teacher or administrator dealt with that effectively. He should NOT have been pulled out of school. The school should have made him feel welcome and ENTITLED to a K-12 education in the public system WITHOUT harassment from "peers." FAILURE TO ACT is what led to this tragedy. But, he lived the tragedy for about 15 years, in pain on a daily basis. And all his mom could do was talk to other people (not professionals) about what she was going to FORCE him to do--to force him into the mold she designed for him. (OK, I spell it out bluntly. But how many more monsters-in-the-making are out there as parents refuse to deal with the child they have?)
Wow, Roslenda. Fired up your crystal ball today, huh?
Perhaps only a woman and mother can undersatnd the mental and physical hell that Nancy Lanza went through which ultimately lead to her murder and the murders of 26 innocents.
CarmineD
There is no reason to honor Nancy Lanza as a mother or anything else. She took it upon herself to teach an incompetant son how to effectively handle an assault rifle in effort to help him? Maybe if Ronald Reagan would have just handed out AR-15 rifles to all of the nations mental patients instead of releasing them as the nations new homeless the country would be in better shape.
@antigov...Nancy Lanza is no more responsible for the actions of Adam Lanza than your mother is responsible for your ignorant, hate-filled comments.
@bs1986,Explain exactly how my comment is hate filled. Is refusing to honor this woman hate filled to you? My feelings are for the poor families of the innocent children and adults who were murdered by Adam Lanza. So do you see hate in my statement about your almighty Ronald Reagan?
Comment removed by moderator. Personal Attack
Nancy Lanza's single biggest failure was that she allowed her son to have unsupervised access to weapons. Even if we accept all that the author of this piece says, and fill our hearts with sympathy and understanding, we can not overlook this.
What the hell was she thinking?!?
<<OK, I spell it out bluntly. But how many more monsters-in-the-making are out there as parents refuse to deal with the child they have?>>
That about sums it up. And I'll just add in a little different way - take the time to pay attention to the child more. You know, be a parent instead of a "friend". Pay attention to what the child is doing in his/her room for hours on end without checking in with them. Pay attention to the friends they have. Like it or not, establish boundaries. The kid isn't going to like it, but that's what parenting is about.