Lest We Forget

National attention has shifted back to the ongoing antics on Capitol Hill, the realities of our inability to regulate guns in a sensible way (as we regulate motor vehicles) are becoming clear again, and the Sandy Hook tragedy is already last year's news.  As horrified as we were, life has returned to normal.  Yet, for the people of Newtown, CT, life really will never be normal again—or, rather, the "new normal" will for decades to come be lived in the shadows of December 14th, 2012.

While those of us who aren't from Newtown can never grasp most of what that means, we can at least get some sense of it from the contents of the website of the Newtown Bee.  On this New Year's Day morning, it contains articles on the almost overwhelming support the rest of the nation has shown for the community—and articles on fraudulent schemes to take advantage of the town's suffering.  There are sad items on the availability of counseling services for those who need them.  There are painful articles on the negative psychological and even economic impact the physical presence of the media has had on the community.  Unfortunately, the Bee doesn't date its articles, so it is hard to tell how things are evolving there, but even so it presents a telling chronicle not only of what has happened but also of the "new normal" that will be Newtwon, CT, for years to come.  The Danbury News Times supplements the contents of of Newtown's paper, and for this morning stories from the tragedy also dominate its website.  The lead story is entitled, "12-14-12: The day Newtown will never forget."

It is to be hoped that the rest of us won't forget either.  Amen.