When the sirens went off we were always startled,
\nwe wee ones,\u00a0 just first, second and third graders\u00a0 in
\nour wing of the old school (it was old even then, decades ago).
\nI knew I didn\u2019t fully grasp the nature of what we called a drill.
\nThe only context for air raid exercises was the can of insecticide
\nmy parents kept under the kitchen sink.\u00a0 Raid.\u00a0 \u2028Raid – sprayed in the air and I could watch the bugs fall.
\nTwitch.\u00a0 Argue.\u00a0 Flail toward something other than their end.
\nAnd then, they were dead.
\nThis is what I related to air raid drills.
\nIn such a event, I felt\u00a0 silly going on a table or lining the
\npuke green oil painted walls, dirty brown molding and olive
\ngreen lockers with our backs.\u00a0 How would our arms locked
\nover our bent heads protect us from inhaling that dreadful spray?
\nIt seemed futile, to me then and ever so much more now.
\nWhat protects a child from an air raid?
\nPerhaps parents weep as they ask the same question
\nabout the campus shooting in Seattle. Today. Minutes ago.
\nLike my childhood,\u00a0 these students have drills. Their drills
\naddress a more modern menace than an \u201cA\u201d bomb.\u00a0 Random,
\nangry gun propelled violence.\u00a0 There are drills that keep those
\nstudents more calm than they might otherwise have been – but
\nit is only the unique heroism of a few individuals that saved
\nlives today.\u00a0 No hiding under a table or putting one\u2019s arms
\nover their bent head could have shielded them from the raid
\nof this bullet on their life.\u00a0 Only quick thinking bravery stayed
\nthe trigger finger of today\u2019s assassin.\u00a0 I would like less of them,
\nlass\u00a0 assassins, less angry gun news and more heroes.\u00a0 Alive.
\nAlive heroes able to save cats from trees, dogs from wells, and
\nnot to worry about their fellow students and having to protect
\ntheir lives.\u00a0\u00a0 I confess this wish comes to my lips as a whimper.
\nI will be angry about the extraordinary availability of guns tomorrow.
\nToday I\u2019m weeping for the losses at Seattle Pacific University.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
When the sirens went off we were always startled, we wee ones,\u00a0 just first, second and third graders\u00a0 in our wing of the old school (it was old even then, decades ago). I knew I didn\u2019t fully grasp the nature of what we called a drill. The only context for air raid exercises was the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[831],"class_list":["post-1762","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-daily-joys","tag-seattlepacificuniversity"],"yoast_head":"\n