Community Corner

Letter to the Editor: Sachem North Student on CT Tragedy

Junior from Sachem North writes in with reaction to massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn.

The following letter to the editor was submitted by Sachem North junior Casey Passarella, who, like many of us, is trying to make sense of the senseless shooting that claimed the lives of 20 children and six adults in Newtown, Connecticut.

Passarella, who first took her voice to Facebook, said Sachem students have been noticeably quiet about the event.

"My fellow classmates are all saddened but no one, especially teachers, have been talking about it a significant amount if at all," she stated in an email. "I believe it's just a sensitive topic and no one knows how to bring it up."

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Perhaps her message could bring it up for her fellow classmates. Her letter to Sachem Patch is as follows:

"We can never fathom that a horrific event like this one may occur, but may we use this as a lesson. Life is a gift, and one that can be taken away in an instant. Death is the only certainty in life and we can never know when it will happen, we just know it will.

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Hold your kids tight and never let them go. Let everyone you love, know that they are loved and that they have meaning, and a place in this cruel yet magnificent world.

Show them that you care. This is sort of a wake up call for everyone. Fill your life with joy and get rid of the sorrow. A moment spent without smiles is a moment wasted.

I can only hope that my children can grow up in a world with the drive and ignorance to believe that they can do anything, because someday they will. I hope they laugh because they see me smiling like a fool and they know everything's alright. Because in the end it's not what you do, it's who it's with and the ride we take to get there."

 


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