Soon our hearts and minds will necessarily turn to the survivors. Their long lives ahead are forever changed by what they experienced and are still experiencing in the wake of the tragedy in what should have been their safe place. What will become of the children? It's up to us to guide them. But how? This is uncharted territory for all of us isn't it? There are those who know though. We can learn how children grieve. We can learn to listen to them and watch them for signs of what they need from us. Professionals and specialists and educators can tell us a lot about post traumatic effects, that those effects are sometimes life-long... Yes, children are resilient but we must be very careful not to dismiss what they are going through as insignificant. What can we do? We can read and study and share information so we can be there for these children as they grow to be adults. We ignore these effects of childhood trauma at our peril. For some children safety cannot even be found in their homes. There is the danger that the adults who represent safety to surviving children will be consumed by their own grief and devastation. We cannot allow it to be a lonely and private grief. Extend an arm to the shoulder of the sufferer, pull them close, breathe with them, share their tears, listen to their sorrows ... show them they are not alone and they are as important in their survival as the ones lost to us are in their passing.
Never forget. Never forget. Remember, too, the living....
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