This past Sunday, every citizen of this town felt the loss of three wonderful couples, but none more so than the eleven children who went to bed Sunday night for the first time without parents. Agony for so many has just become a reality, and six gaping holes now leave a void in the tight-knit Oxford community.

When the times are this tough, Oxford weeps together.

Driving around town since the horrific accident has been tough. I wish to see the flag at full-mast, but that is not so. Flowers line the doors at the offices of the deceased, grief counselors pack the halls of Oxford schools, and hordes of mourners cry out as one. In a town as close as Oxford, the loss of any is immense, but the vastness of this latest tragedy has been felt by so many.

I cannot even begin to fathom what the children of those families are going through. Receiving the tragic call of a deceased parent is one that I hope to never receive, but the thought of eleven children getting the call to hear the horrifying news is a thought that most of us can not bear.

However, it was oddly comforting driving through Grand Oaks and seeing the masses of cars that had piled up on the streets just to comfort loved ones. It was touching to hear pastors speak of unity and prayer on the grounds of both Oxford High and Ole Miss. And it was consoling to see the outpouring of support on social media and in the community that these families have received.

We will never know why bad things happen to good people, and in times like these, similar questions plague the minds of many. But coming from the daughter of one of the couples, in times like these, it is vital to keep the faith. It is easy to break down and ponder the meaning of why, and it is hard to stick together and get through this. But stick together we must.

The residents of this great town are heartbroken, and justly so. Together, we mourn for the children, we mourn for the loved ones, and we mourn for the dead.

But now more than ever, these eleven children need our prayer, our aid, and most importantly, our presence. Let them know that they need not get through these tragic times alone.

It may be a nightmare that most of us wake up from in the morning, but for those eleven children, it just became a reality. In the coming days, we will mourn with you, we will weep with you, and we will begin to help you get through this.

To the children that now have no parents to go home to, we are here for you. And we will get through this together.