For the family of a first-grader killed in the shooting rampage at Sandy Hook Elementary, sometimes it would be easier to just withdraw.
But they don't.
As the painful anniversary approaches this weekend, the mother of Chase Kowalski visited a playground built in her son's honor, and described the family's pursuit to make his life count: They have built a memorial fund that sponsors pre-school programs and triathlons for kids, because Chase loved to run, bike and swim.
"It would be really easy to just fold up and not participate in life, but we've got some great things happening that, you can't," Becky Kowalski said. "You have to share it and we have to make that vision a reality."
Chase was the third child, and only boy, of Becky and Stephen Kowalski.