THE INNOCENT TOUCHED BY THE RUTHLESS HAND OF MAN

A series of essays....

“THE GOLDEN RULE“ BY NORMAN ROCKWELL
~FREEDOM, DIVERSITY, LOVE~

....as seen through my eyes!

By: Jacqueline E Hughes

Chances are extremely high that most of us, even among eighteen-year-olds and younger, have become more politically savvy within the past few years. Current events have lured our youth into arenas they had previously only hoped to enter after obtaining a college education and sorting-out their career. Too often, circumstances have forced our children to jettison their youth and face a life filled with fear, mistrust, and memories best forgotten.

Having lived in Central Florida for many years I will admit to having a good life filled with plenty of sunshine, sandy beaches that were easily accessible both to my east and west, and being able to wear my beloved sandals twelve months out of the year! Those who know me best know how important the last pleasure is to me and I’m often chastised for having them on while running outside on a quick errand on any given Southwestern Michigan winter’s day. Go figure!

MAPS THAT DEMANDED A REACTION
THEY ALWAYS SEEMED TO STRIKE IN THE EARLY MORNING HOURS!

Yes, I’ve also lived through at least eight major hurricanes with each affording us ample time to decide whether to board-up the windows and ride them out (which we did each time) or pack the most important items and move out of harm’s way for the duration. Even in seemingly uncontrolled natural conditions, we remained in control of our destiny, to a certain degree.

Chills continue to overpower me when recalling at least two major events in Florida that changed my life and the lives of many others, especially the young and the innocent, forever! 

It was what most observers would describe as a ‘little black box,’ subdued and nondescript from the outside. On the inside it was a refuge and a home to the large LGBT community of Orlando, Florida. The patrons of Pulse Nightclub considered it to be a safe haven to just be yourself, a place where you forgot about having to fit in, and a fun venue to be able to enjoy the glitz and music with friends. 

49 PRECIOUS SOULS LOST  FOREVER AT PULSE ORLANDO.
SENTENCED TO DEATH BY THE RUTHLESS HAND OF MAN......

In the early morning hours of June 12, 2016, the world was savagely turned upside down, once again, when a 29-year-old, American born, gunman decided he had the right to eliminate the future hopes and dreams of 49 young people, along with wounding 53 others, in a mass shooting at Pulse Orlando. From 2:22 a.m. to approximately 5:00 a.m., over two and a half hours of living hell transpired with many first responders saying how witnessing the carnage had changed their own lives forever.

It was the deadliest shooting by a single perpetrator in United States history until the Las Vegas Strip shooting on October 1, 2017.

Suddenly, Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, Parkland, Florida, and Broward County popped-up on our radar for all of the wrong reasons.

A Valentine’s Day Massacre for the new millennium rolled into Florida that peaceful, ‘candy heart’ kind of day when a 19-year-old former student of the school decided he could enter the premises, shoot to kill, and then walk away at his leisure. All in a days work.. He left behind him the brutal murder of 17 people (14 students and 3 staff members) and the injuring of 17 others. The images of death and suffering of our innocent youth would remain burned into our thoughts from this February 14, 2018 massacre, and gun control was being placed upon the strong shoulders of our young citizens. The first of many organized demonstrations outside the White House in Washington, D.C. began as early as February 18, 2018, four days after the shooting.

Victims of this mass shooting ranged in age from 14 to 49 years old.

We should all remember these names:

Emma González, Alfonso Calderon, Sarah Chadwick, Jaclyn Corin, Ryan Deitsch, David Hogg, Cameron Kasky, and Alex Wind.

These are the names of our future. 

These are the names of the teen survivors who instantly became activists of Students Against Gun Violence and organizers of marches for gun control and co-founders of the gun-control advocacy group Never Again MSD (Marjory Stoneman Douglas). Their battle cry: “We can’t let fear consume us,” and this is why Parkland activists won't give up! They are today’s critics of politicians who are supported by the National Rifle Association; they may serve as tomorrow’s leaders fighting for a better, safer world.

STUDENTS PROTEST GUN VIOLENCE OUTSIDE OF THE WHITE HOUSE
ON FEBRUARY 18, 2018

Courtesy of Lorie Shaull

I am reminded of the phrase: What doesn’t kill us will only make us stronger. 

There is a good chance that a certain percentage of the survivors of these callous shootings will go on to hold political positions one day in order to encourage reform and remain in control of their own destiny. What the vulnerable, young people of both Pulse Orlando and the high school students in Parkland were made to endure will live with each individual survivor for the rest of their life. This is a burden no one would legitimately wish upon their children. And yet, it has happened more than we care to think about in this country, alone.

My young grandchildren are reasoning on their own the consequences of the coronavirus in their lifetime; this includes the loss of a major portion of their last school year and whether or not it will be a responsible move to return to classes this fall. Wearing a mask over your nose and mouth in public has become the newest version of throwing on a baseball cap before exiting the back door to go play with your friends. Their biggest fear is not when they can get together with their friends but instead, if they do get together, even with precautions, could they still bring the virus home to their own family.

THE SYMBOL OF PULSE ORLANDO WILL
ALWAYS BE ETCHED INTO MY MIND

As badly as I don’t want them to have to grow-up so soon, I’m afraid that this simplistic way of thinking has been left behind by the wayside months ago. So, when I see them playing video games or perfecting no-handed back flips on the trampoline these days, I’m encouraged by this reputed normalcy and my heart swells with love and happiness!

Never, never will we forget the martyrdom our youth has been left to deal with in the form of needlessly losing friends or family due to the lack of outlined gun control laws being initiated and followed; being guided by a narcissistic president who never intended to help make life more tolerable for anyone other than himself; not being able to express their true selves due to lack of understanding and blatant discrimination; having to leave childhood behind at a very early age, and dealing with the consequences of a world-wide pandemic with seemingly no end in sight!

Surviving a few storms in life will help to make us stronger. Managing the heartaches witnessed by many young people today is equivalent to them surviving a raging hurricane every single day, for life. I pray they emerge stronger from all of their suffering and that they help to make brave new decisions and laws that will improve everyone’s life in the years to come. Lesson learned: Be mindful of the gathering of the innocent wronged. Their diligence will strike fear in the savage heart.

Be safe. Stay healthy. Wear a mask in public. Hug your children, daily.

Copyright © 2020 by Jacqueline E Hughes

All rights reserved

THE REAL REVOLUTION

A series of essays.....

ONE OF THE TWO LIVE OAK TREES, COMPLETE WITH
HANGING MOSS, THAT LIVES IN OUR FRONT YARD

.....as seen through my eyes!





By: Jacqueline E. Hughes

Breathless beauty surrounds us as we enjoy the changing of the seasons here in Central Florida. People who’ve never lived here say that’s impossible; seasonal changes only happen for them because they live further north in colder climes. Having lived in Orlando for over twenty years has taught me differently and, the respect for and understanding of our seasons has grown as my time here progresses.

Sitting on a cushioned deck chair on the lanai (that’s a porch or patio to those up north) reading ‘A Wrinkle in Time’ by Madeleine L’Engle, the sweet smell of orange nectar laces the air and I drink it in like a mimosa at Sunday brunch. This can only mean that the Sweet Olive plants living along our back fence are sporting their thick coif of tiny white flowers; a splendid headdress for golden sun goddesses!

THE TWO WEDDING
GARDENIA BUSHES

The two giant gardenia bushes that grace the north side of our bright, red garden bench have yet to yield their creamy blooms of perfection that will grace and stand-out among the deep green, glossy leaves it displays twelves months of the year. Soon. One day I will walk outside and their flowers will resemble bright, white lights adorning these special plants. You see, as youngsters, these two gardenia plants were a part of our daughter’s wedding day celebration. I’ve always been proud to have given them a good home to grow and thrive in. The gardenia was my own wedding flower, worn with love, so many years ago.

The tiny jasmine tree we planted in the huge, blue pot that was my Mother’s Day gift fifteen years ago stands tall and proud just outside the screen door and to the right of the lanai. The sweetness of its tiny blossoms rides the gentle breezes until it fills the air with its thick perfume and I must rest my book, close my eyes, and dream sweet dreams of love and happiness. 

MY SWEET, SWEET JASMINE!

We have around twenty species of Live Oak trees living here in Florida.  A significantly small number considering the oak tree family is made up of about 400 species of oak trees and shrubs. For the most part, their leaves can display decent fall color given the right weather conditions and, yes, we can be peppered by acorns in the springtime that collect in dark pools on the ground and crunch under your car’s tires in the driveway leaving dark brown splotches in their wake.

For me, the most significant chapter in the life of the three Live Oak trees that live in our yard involves their loss of leaves in February and early March. Due to the warm climate, our trees and shrubs are never naked or leafless as they are up north in the fall and winter months. These trees are demure to a certain degree and stay dressed-up in their spirally arranged leaves until the leaves begin to decay on the tree and are pushed off by the strong, young buds that are living behind them, waiting, like warriors ready for battle, to emerge onto the scene.

During the initial weeks in March, these alert warriors, punching their way out like champs, create an illusion of soft, green fuzz and our Live Oaks dance in this haze as the young leaves stretch and become as strong as their predecessors, now brown and ready to be bagged up, once were. As humans, we sit back and observe the progression of life among the plant kingdom and marvel at its complexity.

Watching the older leaves falling to the ground like bad habits meant to be lost, I can’t help but believe how perfect their timing is as I correlate their struggle with the recent school massacre in Parkland, Florida, our neighbors to the south.

Young sprites, mere children among a vast world of adults with their rules and regulations, closed mindedness, and archaic attitudes.....emerge from the chaos and carnage as beautifully decorated butterflies ready to fly and sting like a bee, when necessary. These young humans have abruptly become students of life and death, survival, and human compassion beyond anything that I have ever had to endure. With such strength and outward composure they have combined intelligence and insight into a world they have only known for fourteen to eighteen years. 

If you care about the world we all live in, if you wonder how this world is going to change for the better and not remain in a stalemate between outdated logic, money and greed, and the lack of desire to change....you have to admire these young adults and everything they are doing to make this change for the better happen. Unfortunately, dire circumstances have ignited the flame in their bellies and unveiled the warriors within.

CLUSTERS OF BRIGHTLY COLORED
AZALEA BLOSSOMS 

Generation Z may be their 'label du jour' but they are, also, called by the name of Emma, Kai, Delaney, Zach, Daniel, Kyle, Sam, and Cameron, to name only a few. They're of an age where they are, for the most part, without bills to pay and carry the main responsibility of doing well in school and looking forward to their future. They exit with a clean slate, an absence of restraints or commitments, and their fury over the killing of teachers and friends has sparked the warrior in each one of them; their shields emblazoned with the words, ‘Never Again!’ 

This fight has quickly spread across our nation. Because they have been told it’s not the time to talk about gun control, is precisely why it is the time to talk about gun control, and they are making their feelings be known from Tallahassee to Washington, DC and all across the United States!

This March 24, the students of Stoneman Douglas High School have organized a ‘March For Our Lives’ in Washington, DC where they are bound and determined to have their voices heard in the fight for gun control. They are already being heard....loud and clear. Their energy is contagious. They have a clear message of 'Protect the Kids, Not Guns.' The turnout for this march will be astronomical and, why wouldn’t it? These kids are our future. Their purpose is the future, as well. Their cause is the real revolution being fought through the tears being shed by each one of them.

COME TOGETHER, MARCH 24, 2018,
AND 'MARCH FOR OUR LIVES'

My hope is that all students will participate in this one common fight and avoid being rendered sacrificial lambs for the grievous misinterpretation of our Second Amendment. May this movement bring all students together as one; Black, White, and everyone in between! These new buds shall push their way forward as one unit, united by grit and determination, hoping to unlock the alarmingly strong grip on all of us by the National Rifle Association and the crusty, old politicians who have financially benefited from the NRA throughout the years. 

NEW BUDS PUSHING THEIR WAY THROUGH:
ANNUAL FLORIDA LIVE OAK LEAF DROP.

The season down here in Florida is changing and all of these changes are beautiful and fresh. The new flowers brighten our lives and their aroma soothes our soul. The crisp, bright new leaves offer us Hope. And, the victims, as well as the survivors, of Parkland, Florida, would not have it any other way.

Copyright © 2018 by Jacqueline E. Hughes

All rights reserved