Seven Years

Seven years ago I was sitting on the floor in the weight room at the Y, stretching, when a staff member walked over to me and asked me if I had any kids in the Newtown Public Schools.

I live in an adjacent town, and many members of the Y live in Newtown.

I saw her go around and ask every other person in the room the same question.

I knew something pretty major must have been going on.

It wasn’t until I got home that I learned what had happened.

20 first graders and 6 staff members had been killed in Sandy Hook Elementary School.

The students were all the same age as Number 4.

Today I am in Boston watching Number 4 swim in a swim meet.

She is thirteen years old and in 8th grade.

She is smart and beautiful and ballsy and responsible and sometiimes unpredictable and I have really, REALLY enjoyed seeing her become her own person.

There are twenty sets of parents who cannot say the same thing today.

It could have been her class.

My Facebook feed is filled with posts from all my local friends with captions like Never Forget.

Always in our hearts.

But I don’t know if the rest of the country is aware.

I just wanted to make sure you remembered.

And I just wanted to make sure you gave your kids an extra squeeze today.

Because twenty sets of parents can’t.

But you can.