Superbowl Superstars (Sandy Hook) in America the Beautiful

 I  shelved my prepared blog for today in favor of this post because of what I've seen.  

At Sunday's Superbowl game, the Sandy Cook Elementary School Chorus sang "America the Beautiful." 

Sandy Cook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut,  was the scene of a mass murder. On December 14,  2012, just 11 days before Christmas, 20-year-old Adam Lanza used his mother's rifle and shot 26 people in the school. Six of those killed were adults. The remaining 20 were  6 to 7-year old children, some still with their baby teeth.

The members of the Chorus were children themselves. Many of them witnessed the carnage in December and saw the lives of their classmates, playmates and friends ruthlessly snuffed out. 

Yet there they were singing "America the Beautiful" before a huge crowd of football fans and many others in the US and around the globe who were watching the Superbowl -- perhaps the most watched sporting event in the world.

I thought of how brave and strong those children were. They defied the deep wounds and unspeakable horror the killings must have inflicted on their psyche and declared to  the world that they chose to release their pain by singing about the beauty of America.

Goosebumps had spread all over my body by the time the chorus got to this part of the song:

"America, America

God shed his grace on thee

And crown thy good

With brotherhood

From sea to  shining sea."

The real superstars of the Superbowl were not Beyonce, Alicia Keyes, Jennifer Hudson or even the football players who all gave amazing performances. The Sandy Hook Elementary School Chorus was the supernova of the event.  Those boys and girls testified to the resiliency and strength  of the human spirit, even in the face of loss. 

To the kids of Sandy Hook Elementary School: You are beautiful. Thank you!

Grand Canyon's Redwall Cavern by Abraham Herrera

Click on the link below to see the performance of the Sandy Hook Elementary School Chorus:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/03/sandy-hook-chorus-super-bowl_n_2612554.html

- Ariel Murphy