On Week Anniversary Morrilton Holds Memorial for Newtown Victims
By: Marci Manley, KARK 4 News
Updated: December 21, 2012
The candles flicker over faces in the somber crowd. They face a row of white balloons with name tags attached. From a distance, they look like crosses assembled in a slow arc.
This little light of mine, I'm going to let it shine.
The song, seems appropriate. A week after the Newtown school shooting claimed 26 lives of children and adults, a crowd of roughly 30 stands in silence.
"Charlotte, age six. Daniel, age seven. Olivia, age six," Dee Treadwell reads their names aloud.
"The balloons represent the children and teachers and principal that aren't able to stand here," Treadwell tells us. "And it's because they won't be able to stand anywhere again."
The breaths of those who have come here, frozen in Conway County's cold night. The week since the tragedy shook the nation hasn't made the reality any less chilling.
"I couldn't imagine sending them to school one day not knowing if they were going to come home," Treadwell said. "They were innocent. They didn't deserve to be gunned down."
The white balloons symbolize that purity of spirit. The burning candles are a sign strangers' sympathy hasn't been extinguished.
"All across the United States people are thinking about them, the families and everyone who was affected by this," Treadwell said. "We just want them to know that we care. We haven't forgotten, and that even in a little town in Arkansas they are remembered."
As a mother with children around the same age, and a mother who has buried a child of her own, Treadwell knows the pain a parent experiences saying goodbye to a child.
"There's no words anybody can say," she said. "There are no gifts anybody can give."
Still, she offers support all the way from Arkansas. And the only solace she's ever found for herself.
"You just have to know that there's something more and those children are waiting for you," she said.
The balloon strings, clipped from their wooden restraints, float into the night sky and disappear among the stars. And for a moment, it's impossible to disagree with her.
This little light of mine, I'm going to let it shine.
The song, seems appropriate. A week after the Newtown school shooting claimed 26 lives of children and adults, a crowd of roughly 30 stands in silence.
"Charlotte, age six. Daniel, age seven. Olivia, age six," Dee Treadwell reads their names aloud.
"The balloons represent the children and teachers and principal that aren't able to stand here," Treadwell tells us. "And it's because they won't be able to stand anywhere again."
The breaths of those who have come here, frozen in Conway County's cold night. The week since the tragedy shook the nation hasn't made the reality any less chilling.
"I couldn't imagine sending them to school one day not knowing if they were going to come home," Treadwell said. "They were innocent. They didn't deserve to be gunned down."
The white balloons symbolize that purity of spirit. The burning candles are a sign strangers' sympathy hasn't been extinguished.
"All across the United States people are thinking about them, the families and everyone who was affected by this," Treadwell said. "We just want them to know that we care. We haven't forgotten, and that even in a little town in Arkansas they are remembered."
As a mother with children around the same age, and a mother who has buried a child of her own, Treadwell knows the pain a parent experiences saying goodbye to a child.
"There's no words anybody can say," she said. "There are no gifts anybody can give."
Still, she offers support all the way from Arkansas. And the only solace she's ever found for herself.
"You just have to know that there's something more and those children are waiting for you," she said.
The balloon strings, clipped from their wooden restraints, float into the night sky and disappear among the stars. And for a moment, it's impossible to disagree with her.
