A Parisian father and son share a heartwarming exchange about the November terrorist attacks.
A recap is hardly necessary. On the evening of November 13th, 2015, ISIL militants launched a coordinated attack on various civilian targets around Paris, France. The Bataclan theater suffered the heaviest casualties, with some 87 people falling to the attackers. In total, over 132 innocent people lost their lives. 430 were injured. More still will be scarred for the rest of their lives.
Particularly vulnerable to that emotional damage are the city’s children. How are parents to explain such senseless violence to their kids? One Parisian father is setting a good example. In a heartwarming exchange caught on camera by Le Petit Journal, a French father comforts his worried young son by assuring him peace is the path to victory against hatred. It’s summed up with the beautiful phrase “the flowers will protect us.”
Watch the exchange for yourself:
“Do you understand what happened?” The journalist from Le Petit Journal asks the little boy. “Do you understand why those people did that?”
“Yes,” the boy replies. “Because they’re really really mean. Bad guys are not very nice.” A concerned look strikes his face. “And… we have to be really careful because we have to change houses.”
“Oh no, don’t worry.” His father interjects. “We don’t need to move out. France is our home.”
“But there’s bad guys, Daddy.”
“Yes, but there’s bad guys everywhere.”
“They have guns. They can shoot us because they’re really really mean, Daddy.”
The boy’s father takes a moment to look at the flowers being left at the steps of the Bataclan.
“It’s okay. They might have guns, but we have flowers.”
“But flowers don’t do anything. They’re for… they’re for…”
“Of course they do! Look, everyone is putting [down] flowers. It’s to fight against guns.”
“It’s to protect?”
“Exactly.”
“And the candles, too?”
“It’s to remember the people who are gone yesterday.”
The boy turns his head to think for a moment, looking at the flowers himself. He turns back to the journalist.
“The flowers and the candles are here to protect us.”
“Yes.” The journalist says. “Do you feel better now?”
“Yes, I feel better.”
A truly powerful display of humanity in the face of tragedy.
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