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Why attending the #OneLoveManchester is so important to my daughter.
I wrote this blog before having to text my son last night to see if he was safe after the horrific attack on London Bridge. He was out having fun on a Saturday night in London and on the Tube so didn’t reply straight away. These are unsettling and such scary times.
Terror touches us all. I too was in Paris 8 mins from the Champs Elysee the night of the Paris attack.
This is how the Manchester atrocity affected my daughter & of course, it is nothing compared to the loss suffered by the families, but it does show the ripple of fear that these incidents create.
Molly sent me a text immediately after the bomb went off in Manchester as she lives a stones throw from the Manchester Arena. This was no amplifier exploding. The pub shook where her flat mate was working & the chaotic flood of people running out in fear from the Arena down her road will live with her forever. As terrorism has a horrible & disturbing ripple affect. My daughter felt anxious, terrified & afraid and was still up at 3.30am unable to sleep despite having her Final University Exam to complete her 4 year Degree the next day. Her group of students were offered dispensation as they made their way into University that day in a city on lock down with armed police everywhere. She has been anxious travelling ever since, as her sense of freedom and safety has been violated, even as she came home to London for a few days to celebrate passing her Dissertation. Now her fear has been compounded with the attack on London Bridge & in the very vibrant and wonderful Borough Market because now we had to call her brother this time to make sure he was safe.
Manchester holds a very special place in her heart. Its vibrancy, its people, its music, its humour, its art, its culture, its football & its sense of tolerant community.
It’s where she grew up.
She left home a girl & returned a woman. It’s where she’s forged life long friendships, fell in love for the first time & made memories that will last her lifetime.
We as a family have all been touched by the magic of Manchester.
We as a family have been moved by its pain.
She was up early to get tickets for #OneLoveMsnchester because it’s important to her to show solidarity with the parents who lost their children, to bear witness to the act of terror that robbed so many families of their happiness forever.
It’s important for me to express my sorrow, my grief and my deep sadness for all the families whose lives were forever changed on 22th May 2017 and now in my wonderful city of London.
My heart goes out to all the families, friends & relatives who lost a loved one in all of these atrocities of senseless violence.
We, as parents, can all identify with the frantic Mums & Dads standing outside the Arena waiting supposedly for the concert to end so they can pick up their excited children. What was supposed to be a joyous occasion for children & young teens, seeing their idol and dancing & singing innocently together turned into a dark night of despair that has diminished all our lives in some way.
Terrorism touches us all, as it robs us of our sense of safety, but the only way we can get back our sense of power is to stand up to it. To unite in love. To overpower it with kindness, tolerance, peace & love. To come together to defeat its message & to show the few, that community, tolerance, respect, peace & love are all that matter.
On this sad day in both London & Manchester let us remember that terrorism is psychological warfare. Terrorists try to manipulate us and change our behaviour by creating fear, uncertainty, and division in society. Let us all be the antidote to that & teach our children tolerance & how to celebrate our diversity & let’s teach them that we have far more in common with each other than things that divide us.
Peace begins within each one of us individually so let us be actively looking for small ways to show respect, kindness & love to each other & be pro peace as well as anti – terrorist.
May all the victims rest in peace & never be forgotten.
Talking to Your Kids About Terrorism After The London Attack.
Tips for ‘Talking & Teaching’ Your Children about Terrorism.
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