When I used to send my foster son off to school, I felt good. I knew he was going to a place where people cared about him, and where he would be safe.

If I ever thought about school shootings, I thought about Columbine. I never imagined Brent was in any danger, as all of that was too hypothetical and distant. It happened to other people.

But with these things becoming so frighteningly common, I know that I would fear for his safety today. What a terrible place we find ourselves in as a nation.

It is almost unbearable.