I have cried and cried again.

I’m an opinions columnist, and I want so badly to write my honest opinion about the school shooting in Newtown, Conn. because I think we need stricter gun control laws, and I think we need to reach out and support the Sandy Hook community, and I think we need to make sure that everyone we encounter who has any sort of mental illness gets professional help and I think the survivors of the horrible tragedy just need to know that a nation supports them.

I want very badly to do so because the tragedy was so horrible, but the tears are blurring my vision. Every time I see the photos on the news, my heart breaks and I have come to the conclusion that no words can do justice to a horror so deplorable.

So these words, my words, are just going to be an attempt to explain why I think words fall short and why what we really need is action.

Twenty children who never celebrated their eleventh birthday are dead.

Twenty children who never got to complain about how stressful it is to study for final exams, how annoying it is to get grounded by crazy parents, how exciting it is to go to that first high school party, how hard it is to stay awake in physics when the teacher won’t stop talking about centripetal motion, how accomplished you feel when you get picked to be on the varsity team or how happy you can feel, sometimes for no particular reason, when you’re 17 years old.

I’ve experienced all of the things in that long list and to be honest, I’ve taken a lot for granted and I know it. But this isn’t about me.

This is about how the horrible deaths of those students serve as a reminder of all the things we take for granted.

One thing we often forget is how powerful we are. I don’t have to convince anyone that this mass murder was terrible and that something needs to be done about it. What I want to do is convince you that you can do something about.

If you want to do what I’m doing, write letters. Write to the families of fallen heroes, to the kids who survived, to the teachers who protected them, and write about how you admire their courage. Write to representatives and senators and urge them to support stronger gun control laws.

If you’re not a writer, donate. There are many different organizations through which you can get financial support to the people in Newtown who need it the most.

The Sandy Hook School Support Fund, set up by the United Way of Western Connecticut, is one great way to donate. If you are in the area and want to volunteer, the Connecticut Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection says you can call (800) 203-1234.

The most important thing to do is never forget. It isn’t just 27 victims at the school in Newtown, Conn. It’s the students at Columbine and Virginia Tech, the 12 people killed at a movie theater in Colorado, the six shot at the Sikh temple in Wisconsin and the numerous others shot in more than 25 mass murders in America since 1999.

It’s hard not to feel helpless, but one thing I know for sure is that I will never forget, because I have cried and cried again.