I can't recall this expression of sadness ever affecting me as an adult.
I wept for the loss of life in the Christchurch massacre.
I wept for the loss of innocence in our society, for the families that are literally shell-shocked by the massacre of innocents at the two mosques.
That this racist attack happened in a city that was for me, a remembrance of idyllic childhood visits to grandparents, is almost beyond comprehension.
A city that has had to bear so much in the last decade with two major earthquakes this morning faces the horrific reality of what happened yesterday afternoon.
New Zealand will never be the same - it is no longer the country of safe haven that we prided ourselves on.
But as a nation we will not be cowed by these random acts of violence against our citizens.
This morning I weep for the families that have been decimated at their place of worship.
You are not alone.
We are with you.
