"At the behest of Amish leaders, a fund has also been set up for the gunman's wife and his three children." YAHOO! News: Donations to Help Amish families (AP)
If one could find a silver lining behind the darkest of clouds, this would be it. The compassion shown by this gentle community for the family of the man who killed their young is something that should be emulated.
The Amish live in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. I remember making road trips to this picturesque area, our car often having to follow behind horse-drawn buggies on the streets. Parking lots included areas of buggy parking. Towns with unlikely names like Bird-In-Hand & Intercourse (!!!), restaurants with names like "Good & Plenty" and "Plain & fancy", featuring traditional Amish (& very fattening) food like fried chicken, Chow Chow (a vege dish), Shoo-fly pie (so named, because its sugar content attracts flies!)...all these bring back fond memories of our lives in Pennsylvania. The Amish eschew modern conveniences like automobiles & electricity, and dress in plain clothes, the men wearing the characteristic broad-brimmed hats. They still speak in an old German dialect (despite the misnomer Pennsylvania Dutch, they originated from Germany, fleeing persecution because of their religious teachings.
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