Christmas Eve lights pay tribute to Sandy Hook victims
Reporter: Marcelino Benito
TUCSON (KGUN9-TV) - As some look to put all of the gun violence behind us in the new year, a family in Rita Ranch is making sure the victims of the past weeks are not forgotten.
Under a cloudy Christmas Eve sky, a home tucked away down Sunrise Meadow Place may not look like much.
"It's powerful, but very simple," said Kerrie Beggs.
But when you take a closer look, passersby can appreciate just how powerful a message these Christmas lights send.
"It represents them," Beggs said. "May the light shine brightly for them at this time."
Twenty-six tiny green light bulbs, one for each victim gunned down at Sandy Hook Elementary. Twenty innocent children, six adults, their names fastened next to the soft green glow.
"I've read those names over and over and over again," Beggs said. "It's very tragic."
The lights shine for children like Jack Pinto and Noah Pozner, lights that blew out too soon, just weeks before Christmas.
"It's very hard, you don't know what to say," Beggs said.
At a loss for words, Beggs husband, Michael, was moved to put up this simple display. Green and white, the colors for Sandy Hook.
"Michael is a 45-year-old man who sat there and cried," Beggs said. "We all did, we all did. It is very important."
Important to remember she says, that this Christmas, while many families gather around their tree and children sprint out to open gifts, in Newtown, many gifts will never be opened.
"I just can't imagine what they're going through," Beggs said.
And it's that reality that makes this Christmas so much more meaningful t this mother of two. The chance to play a simple board game with her 6 and 12 year olds, the greatest gift of all. Yet at the same time, so bittersweet to think other families are in pain.
"They don't get to say I love you, they don't get to say goodnight, they don't get to say anything anymore," she said.
So her lights, she says, will stay on.
"That way they would shine bright for the families," Beggs said.
This display is just one of hundreds that have gone up miles away from the Newtown community. The Beggs family says they hope it provides some comfort and support to those families in Connecticut, and lets them know they are not alone.
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