[From December 14, 2012 – after the Sandy Hook Elementary shooting]

You flop onto the carpet, and your kids pounce on you, and you know as it happens that this moment is the only thing in the world you want – the only thing you could ever possibly want. And you squeeze them until they can barely breathe, and smell their hair, and nuzzle your face into their perfect skin. And the collective weight of their bodies crushes you, and you rejoice under it, and hide your tears among the squirming arms and legs that surround you. Dinner can wait.