I woke up feeling sad today.

I thought of you, poor children, who had awakened one morning like any other and went to school for your last time. Maybe one of you was excited that your teacher was having a party to honor your class’s academic achievement. Maybe you were a baseball kid looking forward to your game after school because your coach said he was going to put you in the starting lineup.

Perhaps one of you didn’t want to go to school at all. You weren’t feeling well and you asked mom to stay home, but she told you to “suck it up” and get off your butt and go. And so you did. Maybe you dreaded a science test and you hoped there would be a substitute teacher so the exam would be postponed.

You might have been 14 years old and were looking forward to go to the shopping mall with your girlfriend after school that day. Or, you were only 8 years old and your mom baked chocolate chip cookies for you to share with your third-grade classmates.

I woke up feeling angry today.

There never was that party at school and there will never be another birthday for any of you to celebrate. No Sweet 16s. No high school proms. No driver’s licenses. You won’t get married and have your own children who might have looked just like you.

Hey, baseball kid! There will be no next game. You will never step on the field again, never swing the bat or throw a ball. Your uniform, washed and ready, will stay on your bed right where your mom put it for as much time it will take for her and your dad to get the courage to open the door to your room again.

To you who went to school despite not feeling well, your mom will have to live the rest of her life blaming herself because she could have let you stay home that day.

That science test that one of you dreaded is meaningless now, and so are your SAT scores. And by the way, there’s a letter coming in the mail that you will never get to read. It says you’ve been accepted at the university you wanted to attend.

To the girl who was going to the mall after school, your friend will never again step into your favorite stores because you’re not there with her. Hey, little chocolate chip cookie girl! No one got to take a single bite. The custodian shed a tear when he tossed them all into the garbage.

Of course, you’ll never be forgotten by your loved ones. Your laughter, your silliness, and your hugs and kisses will be remembered by your families whenever they think of you, which will be nothing short of always.

For the rest of us, this shall pass like they all do. We’re the lucky ones, at least for now. Our kids came home from school on those days that you didn’t. Some of us think, “That could never happen in our school,” and please don’t tell me that’s what your mom and dad were saying that it couldn’t happen in your school, too.

You kids have now been added to our grim statistics. This year alone, there have already been 27 reported school shootings.

I woke up feeling ashamed of our country. Our leaders have done nothing to stop this insanity that has vanquished the beautiful gleam from your eyes and left your families with broken hearts that will never heal.

Oh, we do our usual thing for you. We’ll have another moment of silence. We’ll send our thoughts and prayers and fly our flag at half-staff. But that’s about it. If you could speak to us now, would you tell us to ban assault and semi-automatic rifles and handguns, you know those guns that kill and wound six times as many people shot per incident than nonassault weapons? I mean that’s why they call them ASSAULT weapons, isn’t it? If they had been banned years ago, you might still be waiting at the bus stop today or you’d be walking to your school and jumping in those mud puddles that get in your way.

Plain and simple, we failed to keep you safe. You know all too well that every school is a target for the next time, the next shooter, the next bullet that ends a life not lived of someone like you.

I woke up feeling helpless today. All I can hope is you didn’t see it coming, that you were smiling or laughing at something and you weren’t afraid.

There will be no more suffering for you, only for us. Someone once said, “Do not weep for those who have found death’s embrace early, for they weep for us that linger on in this mortal world of pain.”

I woke up ashamed today, ashamed of my country. Your children die. Your eagle cries and you stand there watching from a distant window. And as you always have done, you look the other way and thank God it wasn’t your kids who will never again see the light of day.

For your children, for my children, and especially for the all the victims whom you didn’t protect, the time is now to declare war on terrorism in our schools.

Stand up, America! Stand up right now for God’s sake and for the sake of every child who goes to school this Monday morning.

Do not waste another minute. At this very moment, there’s another shooter lurking in the shadows, armed, and ready to leave our children’s bloodstains upon your red, white and blue.

Rich Strack can be reached at richiesadie11@gmail.com.