A Levittown family built a memorial from scratch to honor the children killed in the mass school shooting at the Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas earlier this month.
Days after the Uvalde shooting, schools were locked down in the Levittown due to a report of a student bringing a gun on a school bus, which was later deemed unfounded by local police.
Thomas Day, 37 said his sister is a teacher at a local private school and they were on lock down due to the later to be revealed, false report.
“Me and Mom (Kimberly Day) were freaking out. We didn’t know what to do…we could only text her every so often. As the day went on we found additional information about the alleged incident, through social media and elsewhere,” he said.
The feeling of powelessness over the situation at home and the mass shooting in Texas led the two to the same idea. To do something in honor of the children murdered.
Thomas said the idea was brewing in his mind much of that evening. The next morning, he said. I told her I wanted to build the memorial and she was thinking much the same way.
So we went out, bought backpacks, wood from Home Depot. Cut the wood down to the size of crosses. Painted them, pieced them together and now we have the memorial out there under solar lights,” Thomas said.
Thomas in a sense is a creationist, in that he’s a professional chef traveling far and wide for private engagements.
“We wanted to do something for them” Kimberly said, tears welling up in her eyes.
“I thought of my own kids. The kids I watch, the kids who pass here on their way to school and its just so devastating. This (the memorial) is to let them know we care.”
“It’s just a lot” Thomas said, of school shootings that have happened.
The memorial has nothing to do with guns, or regulating them, the Day’s said.
It’s about the families and the children murdered.
When asked about their thoughts on guns and gun safety Thomas said.
“My grandfather and father, both owned guns. I do think there should be at least some kind of red flag laws and restrictions on the age to access and own them”
“We didn’t have to worry about this stuff, Thomas said, when talking about his upcoming 20-Year Reunion of his Pennsbury High School class.
“We did tornado and hurricane drills” back then.”
He continued….
“The main reason we wanted to do this is to show we do love the kids and families all over the country that are affected by the mass shootings
I want this to be a positive thing people can talk about. Instead of all the bad news we see everyday, he said.
New School Lane area residents, including children have come and prayed, or simply stood at the memorial, silently, quietly meditating, the Day’s said.
Even elementary school kids stopped to view the home made tribute, they said.
Perhaps there is some saving grace in that.
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