Editor's letter 16 February 2020: How do you explain evil to a child? - YOU Magazine Fashion Beauty Celebrity Health Life Relationships Horoscopes Food Interiors Travel Sign in Welcome!Log into your account Forgot your password? Password recovery Recover your password Search Sign in Welcome! Log into your account Forgot your password? Get help Password recovery Recover your password A password will be e-mailed to you. YOU Magazine Fashion Beauty Celebrity Health Life Relationships Horoscopes Food Interiors Travel Home Life Editor’ s letter How do you explain evil to a child By You Magazine - February 16, 2020 A taxi driver once said to me, ‘When you become a parent, you start to take the news personally, don’t you?’ Never was that brought home to me more than on the morning of 23 May 2017. My husband and I were quietly discussing how we would tell our 11-year-old daughter about the events of the night before. Like most tweens, she was an avid fan of Ariana Grande, so we knew all the talk at school would be of the horrific bomb attack at her Manchester concert. As we were figuring out what to say, she called from the breakfast table, ‘Have you heard what’s happened?!’ Damn phones. It was the first time I found myself trying to find the right words to tell a young child that real evil exists. Her questions about it – ‘If he wanted to kill himself, why didn’t he do it somewhere no one else would get hurt?’ – were heartbreaking. We managed nearly 12 years where my daughter did not know what a terrorist was, let alone that they often turn themselves into the murder weapon. I would wager that on that morning, she was one of millions of Ariana Grande fans who gained a new fount of unwanted knowledge and lost a good chunk of their carefree childhood. But, of course, a lot of children were actually there. A lot of Ariana Grande fans also lost their lives. And their loved ones. And the right to a normal life. I have thought about that horrible event often over the years and I wasn’t anywhere near it. How a child survives that much physical and mental brutality is beyond my comprehension. But this is exactly what our cover star today, Freya Lewis, has done. When the terrorist detonated his explosives in the Manchester Arena that night, Freya and her best friend, Nell Jones, were standing mere feet away. One minute they were singing and laughing and already swearing to each other that Ariana’s concert was the best night of their lives. The next second, hell was unleashed. Freya has endured unspeakable violence, pain, endless surgeries and the rehabilitation of her broken body, on top of the grief, trauma and guilt of losing her best friend. Her story is utterly heartbreaking but also a true testament to human resilience. To see it in someone so young takes my breath away. I see my daughter in Freya. I have watched her bounce out of concerts, linking arms with her bestie and screeching out all the songs all over again on the way home. And I can’t find the words to say how much my heart aches for everyone whose lives were ruined by doing something as joyful as coming together to watch their favourite pop star. It’s like that taxi driver said: I took the news personally. I want to give my sincere thanks to Freya and her family for trusting YOU magazine to share her story. And I want to send my heartfelt sympathy to everyone whose lives were changed forever by this disgusting act. Editor’ s picks A few things I’m coveting this week A forever dress if ever I saw one Dress, £143, gestuz.com Jeans, meet your soulmate Jumper, £298, madeleine-thompson.com I choose to believe spring is coming Trousers, £119, baumundpferdgarten.com RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR Everything we know about The Crown season 5 Aldi s exercise equipment is on sale with up to 50% off The best Halloween events for 2022 across the UK Popular in Life The You magazine team reveal their New Year s resolutions December 31, 2021 Susannah Taylor The TLC tools your body will love January 23, 2022 How to stop living in fear February 6, 2022 Susannah Taylor My pick of the fittest leggings February 27, 2022 Women’ s Prize for Fiction 2022 winner announced June 17, 2022 These BBC dramas are returning for a second series June 30, 2022 Susannah Taylor gives the lowdown on nature s little helper – CBD April 17, 2022 The baby names that are banned across the world April 27, 2022 The Queen has released her own emojis May 26, 2022 Sally Brompton horoscopes 27th June-3rd July 2022 June 26, 2022 Popular CategoriesFood2704Life2496Fashion2240Beauty1738Celebrity1261Interiors684 Sign up for YOUMail Thanks for subscribing Please check your email to confirm (If you don't see the email, check the spam box) Fashion Beauty Celebrity Life Food Privacy & Cookies T&C Copyright 2022 - YOU Magazine. All Rights Reserved