Tagged: Boston marathon

How my daughter taught me to see LOVE instead of fear

I’ve been pretty devastated about the recent bombings in Boston.  Just like I was about the school shootings and countless other unnecessary acts of violence that have happened since my daughter was born.  I can’t believe that I am raising my children in a world where these things happen…frequently.  But the reality is that I AM raising my children in this world. 

Today, as I was thinking about all this while mindlessly emptying the dishwasher, I witnessed my daughter do the most amazing thing.  My son started crying in his rock and play sleeper and my daughter ran over to him and whispered “It’s okay, Liam, I love you, it’s okay.”

I know this may seem arbitrary to most of you, but it made me realize that I CAN raise my children in this world.  My daughter is kind and empathetic and I know that one day, she’ll be the first one to help out in whatever crisis should occur.  That’s all we can hope for, right?  That we raise out children to be better than we are.  If we can do that, maybe, just maybe the world can change.  And if it can’t, at least I know that my children are doing their best to fix what is broken.

Now, as I sit here with my son on my chest, and my daughter by my side, I feel a sense of security, instead of fear.  My daughter’s simple, comforting words were exactly what I needed to know that there will always be good, no matter how bad things get.

 

 

 

 

Bombs In Boston

I’m sure everyone knows that there were bombs detonated near the finish line of the Boston marathon yesterday afternoon. As of this morning when I left my house, there were three dead, almost two hundred people wounded. They aren’t sure how many devices there were beyond the two that exploded. Whether this was an act of domestic or international terrorism is still being investigated. The bomber’s motive is still unknown.

I first learned about the attack from an NPR email alert on my phone. I was still at work, unable to turn on a tv or go hunting online for news. Later, a “story” showed up that was a compilation of tweets, full of pictures that clearly showed blood and injured people. I was sickened, both at the sight of the destruction and the decision to publish those pictures. I deleted the email before finishing, there was no way I could look at all of the images and keep my shit together at work.

When I got home, MSNBC was on. As I sat down to watch Chris Matthews, I was curious to know if anyone had come forward, if they were sure all of the bombs were diffused and accounted for, if there were attacks anywhere else. Instead, I saw video after video of the bomb itself. There was live feed showing people taken away on stretchers. Chris had witnesses calling in to go over what they saw or felt. And in the middle of one of these calls, he asked “Did you see any limbs or body parts lying around?”
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