Orlando: Our Tears Show Sadness, Not Weakness

At this terrible time of mourning, parents and family members who scorn, reject or isolate gay children or other family members, let this tremendous loss of life show you how misplaced your feelings and fears are. Our lives are fleeting enough, without hate seeking to do us in. Some parents may have only found out their child was gay when they were informed of their death or wounding in this massacre of innocent people. Religion used as a cover to spread hate needs to be called out. DON'T BE STILL, SPEAK OUT! Our tears show sadness, not weakness. Remember the victims, their families, their friends. Donate in some way to help comfort those who suffered loss and to help those who survived, for even those untouched by bullets will bear the scars of this tragedy for the rest of their lives. No matter how much our hearts ache, WE ARE STRONG, WE HAVE STRENGTH!

WORD HISTORY:
Strength-This word, derived from the ancestor of "strong," goes back to Indo European "streng/strenk," which had the notion of "tight, taut." This gave its Old Germanic offspring "strangiþu" (þ essentially equals "th"), meaning "strongness." This then gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) "strengþu," with the general meaning, "physical strongness, firmness in body or spirit." This then became "strengthe" (ending 'e' pronounced 'eh'), before the modern form. The close relationship between "strong" and "strength" makes it difficult to separate the exact meanings, as they often overlap, so I will list only a few, but German has "Strenge" (hardness, toughness, strictness, harshness), Low German "Strengde" (harshness, strictness), Dutch "strengte" (strict, stern, severe).