My aversion to the news

This post contains sensitive material.  Possible controversial material.  You've been warned.

I've grown a strong aversion to the news which I used to watch on a consistent basis.  I liked knowing what was going on in the world, in my area, back in Montreal.  Since losing Preston, I've had quite my quota with tragedy so I tune in seldom, yet I find myself privy to the news thanks to Facebook, and Yahoo!, my search engine of choice.  I mostly try to ignore it, but sometimes, there's that one article that just grabs your attention.  I read it.  I regret it.

A month ago, it was how a toddler grabbed a gun out of his mom's purse while in the shopping cart at the grocery store and killed his mother.  The baby didn't know what he was doing.  Now he will have to live his life knowing he killed his mother.  This type of story frustrates me so much, because this could have been avoided, unlike Preston's death.  You might read that SIDS can be prevented.  It cannot.  You can do many things to reduce the risks, like we did.  But nothing makes the risks completely go away.  If that mother had kept her purse on her shoulder instead of in the cart with her child...  Or if she better yet, didn't have a gun in her purse...

The article that prompted this post was one I read just minutes ago, where a 5 year old killed his 9 month old brother with a revolver that was on his parent's built-in headboard shelf.  His mom thought he shot his brother with a paintball gun, not much better.. What the hell are you doing letting your 5 year old shooting a paintball at his infant brother, or any other unprotected child... What the hell are you doing letting your 5 year old play with a paintball gun altogether.  My blood boils.  My heart bleeds.  My heart breaks.

I'm not pro-gun.  Perhaps it has to do with growing up in Canada where guns aren't so present.  I'm not against paintball - in a controlled environment, where people understand what they are doing.  Where you that hitting someone in the head can be dangerous.  Or hitting someone without proper armor or whatever it is you wear when you play paintball.  How is a 5 year old expected to fully understand the safety concerns that come with guns.  They are still at that age where they want to test the limits of what you tell them they can't or shouldn't do.  

While in most cases, I agree that guns don't kill people, and that people kill people - there are cases where guns kill people.  These are just 2 specific examples.  It breaks my heart that because of the carelessness of these parents, their children now have to deal with the burden of having killed someone.  Killed someone they love.  I'm very sorry, that they were a "very good family".  We're a very good family and tragedy hit us without us being able to do anything about it.  Use your damn head.  My heart is broken for them, really it is.  But I'm so mad at them too.

I've read so many sad stories my life.  Parents dumping their infants in the garbage.  Parents beating their babies.  We all know the Sandy Hook tragedy that happened 2 years ago.  It is frustrating for a bereaved parent to know that some people get to be parents when they don't even want their children.  It is heart-breaking really because we would have done anything to be able to keep Preston.  Life had other plans.  There is so much sadness in this world.  So much that we can do to prevent some of it.  So the question is... what can we do about it?  More than you know.  More than you know.  

Being on the unpreventable side of tragedy, all I can say is this.  Do whatever it is you can do to prevent.  Do whatever it is that you can do to teach and practice safety when dangerous things are involved.  Remember that tragedy can hit anyone.  Tomorrow is never promised.  And for that reason, don't take things for granted.  Don't make the mistake I made and think - "this could never happen to me".  In most cases, know that tragedy can be averted.