A memorial to the 26 people who died during the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting quietly opened to the public on Sunday.
The opening comes nearly a decade after a shooting that left 20 children and six educators dead on Dec. 14, 2012.
The new memorial is beautiful and poignant, said Jenny Hubbard, whose 6-year-old daughter, Catherine Violet Hubbard, was killed in the shooting.
鈥淚 think it鈥檚 the same thing as a cemetery, a gravesite,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t gives people who choose to go there, if they want, solid ground, to have that moment of reflection and contemplate the impact on their own lives, or how it changed them.鈥�
The new memorial also gives Newtown a place to put some of its grief, Hubbard said.
鈥淭his was not an isolated event where you just move on with your life,鈥� she said. 鈥淥ur community was impacted, and the memorial, I think, is a really poignant reflection place for everybody to honor what we all lost.鈥�
The public unveiling of a memorial would occur with no formal dedication of the site, . Members of the public were invited in to honor the lives of those killed during the shooting.
The Danbury NewsTimes that a 5-acre nature garden will surround the $3.7 million memorial. Families of victims were invited to attend before the public opening.
As the 10th anniversary of the school shooting nears, Hubbard said she . If she wants to feel close to her daughter, she goes .
鈥淭hat鈥檚 where I encounter Catherine. That鈥檚 where I see her, and I feel her,鈥� Hubbard said. 鈥淭he memorial is not a place where I need to go and tap into that. I鈥檒l go up to the sanctuary. For other people, it may be the memorial.鈥�
黑料吃瓜网鈥檚 Patrick Skahill contributed to this report.
