Being a parent & dealing with Connecticut


We are all asking ourselves who, what, when, why and how? If you are a parent your desire to understand the evil of the recent series of events is amplified. Should I live in fear now? Should I put my children on home studies now? What now? Whenever something of this magnitude happens we all go into panic mode and it is viscerally justified. Last year I lost my brother to violence and I became extremely paranoid. I read the story of Vincent Li and the greyhound bus in Canada, and nearly went nuts. I just kept on asking myself “What if this happens to my kids or someone close to me?”  I think that is the question that goes through all of our minds after situations of this nature occur. I bet you are thinking to yourself, “thanks for the newsflash Eric, but where is the solution?” The solution to controlling the actions of others is nonexistent.

With that said paranoia will not fix the problem we are facing with Evil in this world either. Evil is here and it always will be. The good news is that I believe that there is more GOOD than evil in this world. I know it is hard but the serenity prayer is always relevant in times of helplessness.

“God grant me the serenity

to accept the things I cannot change;

courage to change the things I can;

and wisdom to know the difference.”

Love, cherish, pay attention to, and understand your children. Enjoy every moment you have with them as tomorrow is not promised. This may sound cliche but we all know it is true. Lastly, keep living your life as you normally do. Don’t let these tragic events alter your life’s trajectory. Be aware; visit grief, don’t move in with grief. My heart goes out to the families of the Newtown, CT tragedy, as do my deepest, sincerest, most visceral condolences.

Eric J. Anthony
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  • Franki J

    very true <3 Cherish each moment with your child. My thoughts and prayers also with those families.

  • Brian

    I live in Newtown so this topic hits literally close to home. We have a 3 and 4 year old so by the grace of God they were spared the scar of losing a friend. But we have friends who lost a child that day, and other friends whose child was at the school when it happened. It’s incredibly sad, just indescribable. but… the account of love, prayers, and support we received from around the world has restored our faith in humanity.

    someday we’ll need to tell our boys what happened and they’ll need to hear it from us. every parent must be brave and do that for their kids, because imagination runs wild in kids and if they don’t hear it from you, that’ll hear from friends and it’ll be ten times worse.

    just tell them that for every dark spot in the world, there is an equally bright light out there somewhere to cancel it out. If anyone wants to read my blog, it is http://www.theheartoflifeisgood.com
    God bless