Local community gathered for candlelit vigil

TERRE HAUTE, Ind. (WTHI) - As the investigation into the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting continues, hundreds of miles away, a local community gathered to honor the children and adults killed.

About 870 miles from the site of the shooting, in Terre Haute, mothers, fathers, children and mourners gathered at Benjamin Franklin Elementary School for a candlelit vigil, which honored those killed in Newtown, Connecticut.

The Benjamin Franklin Parent Teacher Organization President, Adriana Strong, led the vigil with a moment of reflection and sympathetic words for those killed Friday.

“We join together to let those of Newtown, Connecticut know that we in Terre Haute, Indiana, are grieving with them,” Strong started, “and sending messages of compassion from miles away.”

A somber atmosphere surrounded the parents and children mourning with a community of people they had never met. 

Though the pain the family, friends and colleagues of the Sandy Hook victims are currently experiencing is immeasurable, their suffering strikes at the hearts of parents everywhere.

“I just feel so bad for the families in Connecticut.  It’s just terrible,” said Lori Perrelle, a parent.  “I don’t know how they’re going to do this holiday season.  It’s a really, really hard and tough time right now.”

For Perrelle and other parents, their first thoughts on Friday were of their own sons and daughters.

“It’s a sickening feeling—in the pit of your stomach,” said Strong.  “You don’t know what to do.  You don’t know whether to cry, to scream…for some of us, we just wanted to run to the school and pick our kids up, so we knew they were okay.”

“I wanted to go home and hold my kids and squeeze them tight, and just remember nothing lasts forever,” Perrelle said.

Balloons were released at the vigil, one-by-one, in memory of each victim.

Those that attended also wrote condolence notes that will be taken to Sandy Hook.  Some said the notes would hopefully help those struggling, to cope and carry on.

The tragedy that happened Friday has caused Strong and other parents to be more cautious.

“I don’t think I’ll ever feel the same way, sending my kids to school, or anywhere for that matter, because you just don’t know what the next moment can bring,” Strong finished.