I expected to be planting twenty five new blueberry bushes today with a joyful heart.. This kind of project usually makes me so happy. I may get the blueberries planted, but I think it will be with a heavy heart, not a joyful one.

Our youngest child has been the target of new death threats at the hands of another classmate, a child who, as of yesterday, had access to a gun.

Our son is twelve. He would literally not hurt an ant, yet he has already lived through seven years of death threats from a disturbed relative of mine. Now he has to deal with this.

I find myself in a familiar place of shock and adrenaline rush. It is sickeningly familiar.

Today, a lot of other adults are working with us to create a safe situation for Will. Except for police involvement, this never happened with our other situation. This time we have adults involved who are less naive, less in denial, and then they have us, seasoned veterans of this kind of horrible situation who simply won’t stop until we do all we can to try and make things safer for Will.

Sadly, this doesn’t feel like safe enough.

My thoughts go in so many directions. What have we come to as a country where a child living in a tiny town of two thousand people would have had not one situation like this in his twelve short years but two.

Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers. I would appreciate that so much.