What now in Newtown? Seize the change, healers say

NEWTOWN, Conn. — The grief will not end. Yet the healing must begin. So as the shock of Newtown’s horrific school shooting starts to wear off, as the headlines fade and the therapists leave, residents are seeking a way forward through faith, community and a determination to seize their future.

At religious services Sunday, church leaders received standing ovations from parishioners they have been helping to cope with the shooting deaths of 20 children and six adults at Sandy Hook Elementary School. The gunman also killed his mother and himself.

“This has been the worst week of my life,” said Monsignor Robert Weiss of the St. Rose of Lima Roman Catholic Church, which lost eight children and two adults in the massacre. He thanked the community for giving him strength to get through the week filled with funerals.

Meanwhile, a former teacher, Carole MacInnes, said she remembers the gunman as a smart, sweet boy in her second-grade class at Sandy Hook.

To deal with the short-term trauma, the state sent dozens of mental health professionals to Newtown.

Relief also has been provided by therapy and service dogs, massage therapists, acupuncturists and art therapists from around Connecticut and the nation.

Rick Kaplan was driving back to South Carolina on Sunday with his nine service dogs. His “Canine Angels” usually assist disabled veterans, but he spent several days in Newtown with parents and grandparents of the victims, the victims’ classmates and other town residents.

The families “held dogs, cried, laughed, hugged and thanked us to say that this was invaluable,” Kaplan said. “The love and respect of a dog is something, no doctor and no medicine can compete with what a dog can do.”

The mother of one victim sat with one dog for an hour. Kaplan recalls her saying: “I can’t tell you how guilty I feel because this is the first joy I’ve had in a week. I feel so guilty because I’m not thinking about my son right now.”

Deacon Rick Scinto of St. Rose of Lima said church officials will be teamed with professional counselors and therapists to provide assistance.

Things will never be the same here. And that transformation itself — heartbreaking and permanent as it may be — is the key to long-term recovery, say some of those helping to lead the healing of this shattered town.

“This will never leave you and should never leave you. Your tears are proof of your love. The trick is, you’ve got to find a new form for your love,” said Dr. John Woodall, a psychiatrist and Newtown resident.

Woodall is founder of The Unity Project, which has assisted recoveries from such tragedies as 9/11, Hurricane Katrina, the war in the former Yugoslavia and child soldier conflicts in Uganda. He said it’s impossible to answer the question of why the Dec. 14 tragedy happened.

“The only helpful question to ask is what next?” Woodall said.