Below is a letter to President Obama drafted by my mother in the wake of the tragedy in Newtown, CT.

Dear Mr. President,

I am writing to share with you the sadness I am feeling today in light of all the tragedy and heartbreak we have all felt since last Friday. In fact, I have been feeling this for much longer than that.

My sadness began to swell when I first heard the term “kill Romney”, and has grown throughout the last months listening to your call for “revenge” when speaking to your constituents during your campaign, listening to you support the union members and Democrat officials calling for “blood” when they don’t get their way, and for standing silent while union thugs physically attack a news reporter while he witnessed the tearing down of a tent sheltering peaceful Americans, some in wheelchairs, simply expressing their right to free speech.

How can you expect to play the role of “consoler in chief” when you have fully supported the killing of more than a million children a year through abortion, even after live birth, some only guilty of being female? What effect did your rhetoric have on a young, mentally disturbed man in Newtown, CT?

As our leader, you more than anyone, should have realized by now that what we need is a national healing. The only way to healing is forgiveness. Though you frequently have your speechwriters include biblical passages in times of trouble, you speak of more regulation and law you plan to invoke rather than addressing the substance of our problems. Healing does not come from the rhetoric of politicians with their own agendas, but rather from prayer and realizing our own short-comings.

I have lived through a childhood of abuse, a marriage of abuse, the murder of family members and more, only maintaining my own physical and mental health through knowing the only way to inner peace is through forgiving those falling short of my expectations. That inner peace also provides me with a sense of security in an ever more dangerous world.

I have also forgiven you and pray for you to find the courage to lead this nation in a way that will provide for more safety and security for its citizens, as well as those around the world. I forgive you for standing by and watching as thousands of Syrians are killed for no good reason, as four Americans are killed in Libya while you ignore their security needs while representing their country, and while you hide behind executive privilege as over 200 Mexicans and an American border guard are murdered with weapons your justice department provided. In addition, I forgive you for allowing your justice department to imprison an American for expressing his right to free speech and for lying to the American people about an irrelevant video on the internet.

For the first time in my life I will buy a gun this week. I am a mother and grandmother, only wanting to live in peace, but realizing for the first time in my life that I may need a way to protect myself from a government that I have trusted for the last 59 years. While I have never asked for this government to provide for me in any way, I have assumed that it would keep me safe. This is no longer sensible.

I will continue to pray for you and your family everyday, as my taxes provide for your security. I will continue to pray daily for a nation that I see faltering and have faith that we can withstand another four years if we begin to humble ourselves and forgive.

I pray that you will start each of your days as our leader asking for forgiveness for your own shortfalls, and for the wisdom you lack in leadership.

Respectfully,

A Concerned Mother & Grandmother