There are bad people in the world. But there are good people too.

My girls,

There comes a time when I have to accept that you will not always have a golden innocent view of the world.  You are still so little, but times like these make me realize that you will inevitably have to learn that there is suffering.  And to be honest, I am having a really, really hard time wrapping my head around it.

A week ago, a ten year old girl was taken during the short time that she was alone on her walk to school.  It happened in a neighborhood very close to ours.  The police and the community have turned the town upside down looking for this little girl, and everyone is holding their breath, waiting to hear any sort of information.

I know that every parent I see is holding their kids a little tighter.  All of us are thinking "what if that had been my child?"  My heart literally will not let me imagine what her parents are feeling.  For me, this situation is the absolute worst thing that could ever happen.  It is so overwhelming to know that no matter how good of a mom I am, no matter what I teach you or where we live, there are elements of your lives that I will not have control over.  There will be moments in your life where I can not protect you.  I am realizing now, more so than ever, how completely exposed, raw and vulnerable it is to be a parent.  Two pieces of my soul are existing in the world outside of my body, outside of what I can control.  And I am scared.

It is so hard to explain to you that there are some people in the world who would want to harm children.  You ask so many questions because it seems unfathomable to you that there are bad people out there.  Explaining to you that "bad people" don't wear funny costumes or have villainous laughs, and look just like good people... it's such a big concept for you to understand.  There are people in our world who do terrible, terrible things.  I am so glad your teachers are talking to you about it at school.  I feel bad that I didn't talk to you about it sooner.  I know it seems uncomfortable and redundant to hear "stranger safety" from all of the concerned adults in your life, but it just feels like one of the only things we can do to help control it from ever happening.

But in the darkness of all of this, I do not want you to lose faith in the good of the people around you.  I do not want to make you skeptical of every stranger you see.  In my 29 years I don't think I've ever met a person who would deliberately harm a child.  While bad things happen, there are so many incredible humans for you to know, love and experience in this world.  Even in the wake of this little girl's disappearance, hundreds of people in the community have come forward and spent the entire week searching tirelessly for a child that they never met.  People everywhere are offering up prayers and thoughts and would help restore this girl to her family in a heartbeat.  We are surrounded by good people who do good things for each other every single day, and that is the norm.  We have to focus just as much on celebrating the people who do selfless things for each other, who keep on going in the face of hardships, who inspire others, who are kind,  and who love.  My goal every day is to be an example of this so you will have these qualities too.  We can not let the darkness of one stomp out the light of so many others.

So forgive me my girls for being such a mess this week.  Forgive me for hugging you until you have to ask me to stop.  Forgive me for denying you the independence to walk to school as you get older, and for my hesitation to ever let you leave my side.  I will never regret keeping you close.

Love,
Mom