As with some of the more horrific events that have plagued our last decade, we will all, unfortunately, remember where we were and what we were doing as the reality of the unthinkable acts at Sandy Hook Elementary were unfolding this past Friday the 14^th. We can add it to the list, along with Columbine, Virginia Tech, Aurora, the Gabby Giffords’ shooting, etc. etc.

I was at a Starbucks 1/8 of a mile from Newtown meeting with a client.

Emphasizing the gravity of the event, as the next 24 hours unfolded, was the proximity and the people we knew, friends, and friends of friends whose kids attended Sandy Hook Elementary.

Sitting there at Starbucks, frozen to my chair, and as the next few hours unfurled, I watched, and absorbed, and tried to ascertain fact from rumor as person after person entered the coffee shop either looking for or revealing small tidbits they’d been gathering from the news, their friends, the school calls to their respective phones. All that was really known I’d learned earlier through the robo call sent out to all of the parents; that a violent act had occurred in neighboring Newtown, that our schools were all going into “lockdown” mode and that all after school activities were being cancelled. Continue reading →