Students from the Newtown, Connecticut, began returning to school this morning for the first time since last week’s massacre.
Two 6-year-old boys were laid to rest Monday in the first of a long procession of funerals. A total of 26 people were killed at Sandy Hook Elementary in one of the worst mass shootings in U.S. history.
Classes resumed this morning for Newton schools except those at Sandy Hook. For many of the students, Tuesday would be spent mostly talking about the shootings, and some have expressed their feeling of how it all seems surreal.
On Monday, Newton held the first two funerals of the many that the New England community of 27,000 people will face over the next few days. The funerals were for Noah Pozner and Jack Pinto, both 6 years old.
“I will miss your perpetual smile, the twinkle in your dark blue eyes, framed by eyelashes that would be the envy of any lady in this room,” Noah’s mother, Veronique Pozner, said at the service, according to remarks the family provided to The Associated Press.
"Most of all, I will miss your visions of your future," she said. "You wanted to be a doctor, a soldier, a taco factory manager. It was your favorite food, and no doubt you wanted to ensure that the world kept producing tacos."
She closed by saying: "Momma loves you, little man."
Noah's twin, Arielle, who was assigned to a different classroom, survived the killing frenzy.
At Jack Pinto's Christian service, hymns rang out from inside the funeral home, where the boy lay in an open casket. Jack was among the youngest members of a youth wrestling association in Newtown, and dozens of little boys turned up at the service in gray Newtown Wrestling T-shirts.
Jack was a fan of New York Giants wide receiver Victor Cruz and was laid to rest in a Cruz jersey.
