I hope you'll indulge me this post about my beloved home state, Connecticut. I was born and raised there, attended the University of Connecticut, and while it's been many years since I've lived there, I've always dreamed of returning. Before this horrific tragedy of 12/14, Connecticut was a quiet state in a quiet corner of the world, mostly known for its insurance companies, Yale University, a bedroom community to Manhattan, and the University of Connecticut basketball program. So unassuming and modest is this state that is sandwiched in between New York and Boston that a Boston-run Dunkin Donuts TV commercial recently referred to it as "Newyorkachusetts". And believe me, people in Connecticut would be the first to laugh.
Now, unfortunately, it will forever be associated with an unspeakable act of senseless violence. But in its aftermath, allow me to tell you why I love this place so much. You may have already recognized some of the reasons yourselves from all the media coverage, but allow me to brag anyway. The people there are very much like the landscape itself: gentle and enduring, like the rollings hills that go on forever, with steely spines like the omnipresent rock walls that frame the state and give it so much of its character - never brash or showy; just strong, silent and capable.
The courageous people of Newtown will now go about the unthinkable business of burying their loved ones with a quiet dignity and strength they never knew they possessed or needed to call upon to this degree. Such grace under fire speaks to the depth of their character and their love and compassion for each other. I've always known they were made of strong stuff in Connecticut, but I wish to God it hadn't been in response to an event such as this. May God bless them all.
