She was born on Sept. 11, 2001. She loved baseball and ballet. She wanted to make the world a better place.
Our hearts go out to the family of 9-year-old Christina-Taylor Green, the youngest of six people killed by a gunman who targeted a political gathering at a Tucson Safeway on Saturday. Her parents said she went with a family friend to the meet-and-greet with Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords because she wanted to learn more about government and help out in the future.
It's almost unbearably sad to watch her father talk about her brief life; and yet, he wants people to know how special Christina was. In the wake of her death, lots of people are calling for a return to civility in public life. As Matt Lauer pointed out this morning, the gunman who shot up the Safeway clearly is deeply disturbed, way beyond the usual nastiness we've come to accept in politics. But should we accept it? Will Christina's death, and the deaths of five other innocent people, change anything about the way we talk to each other in this country?
Her mother hopes so: “I just want her memory to live on because she was a face of hope, a face of change, a face of us coming together as a country to stop the violence and hatred and the evil words,” Roxanna Green said.
Mary Jane McKittrick, author of a series of children's books about civility, reminds us that change begins in the home:
Enough already! I am not a political person. I did not produce the Boomer and Halley series with any notion of religious or political agenda. But I cry out to parents everywhere. Stop the Madness. A Child HasDied. This little girl was the face of the future. Her mother is calling for a return to civility. If my voice cannot get through the clutter, so be it. Please do not let this child and the others who died on that terrible day be the end of the cry for civility. Pick up the banner and carry it now. The time for waiting on others to do it for you is over!
What are YOU willing to do to change the tone in this country?
Good question. Have you talked to your kids about the shooting in Arizona? Do you think this tragedy will change the tone of political discourse? And if change begins at home, what are you doing to teach civility and respect?