In the year since 6-year-old Emilie Parker and 19 other children were shot and killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., the Parker family has been acquainted with much pain, but also much hope and healing.
A new four-minute video produced by Shadow Mountain shows the grief Emilie's mother Alissa Parker endured upon hearing about her daughter’s death.
“That pain is indescribable,” Parker (an Ogden, Utah, native) said in the clip. “I felt so consumed with how evil can be so powerful, and that evil won.”
But the family members found comfort amidst their heartache. Parker recounts the acts of kindness and generosity she saw in memory of her daughter and the other victims.
“I truly started to feel the obvious strength and power that lifted me, that lifted my family,” she said.
Last year, Robbie Parker was the first parent of the Sandy Hook victims to speak to the public. He not only spoke about his daughter, but he also expressed sympathy for the family of the man who killed the victims, according to an earlier Deseret News article.
"I can't imagine how hard this experience must be for you," Robbie Parker said in his remarks.
On her family blog, the Parker Five, Alissa Parker wrote about the lessons both God and Emilie continue to teach her.
“God has shown me how beautiful life truly is when you learn to forgive and feel true peace,” Parker said. “I don’t have to hold on to anger, and I don’t have to hold on to pain. There have been times where I felt like I HAD to hold on to the dark things, like it was some responsibility I was supposed to carry. But Emilie’s life was about color and joy, not about pain and suffering.”
Abby Stevens is a writer for the DeseretNews.com Faith and Family sections. She is a graduate of Brigham Young University–Idaho. Contact Abby at astevens@deseretdigital.com.