This Past Week

I try to shy away from discussing both my own life and current world events on this blog. It's not that I deem them unimportant, but my thoughts on such matters are usually something I consider private. However, things occasionally get to a point where it would be foolish to not talk about them.

If you were paying attention, you know that last week was a tumultuous one. There was the bombing of the Boston Marathon on Monday and the subsequent confrontation and capture of the alleged perpetrators on Thursday/Friday. This was something that changed a lot of lives, and I have already linked to a fundraising effort for two of the survivors. On a personal note, this tragedy hit me on a personal level due to my friend Sara having embraced running in recent years. That could have been her and her immediate family and friends. That's the sort of sucker punch level of identification that gives you pause.

That wasn't all the week had in store. There was a horrific explosion at a fertilizer plant in West, TX that took out a good part of the town. As I have alluded to from time to time, I live in a small town. My sister is a volunteer firefighter. So what happened in West really hit me in the "that could have been us" way. It's something that is going to haunt me for a long time, and all you can do is support those who have to pick up the pieces. My heart goes out to them.

And then, on a far more personal level, a dear friend of mine lost someone very close to her quite unexpectedly. Part of why this blog post is so late tonight is because I was emotionally spent after paying my respects at the funeral home. My heart breaks for all of those folks - most of whom I have never even met before today. But I did get to catch up with my friends, and maybe make some new ones, too. Not the way you'd like, but in my experience, sometimes you only get a chance to really talk to people at these sort of things.

The funeral is tomorrow. I live a bit of a distance to try to make it, and besides, I think it should really be for those people who were truly close to the person who passed away. But I know where my heart will be tomorrow. If you could spare a thought or prayer for these people going through a sad and difficult time, Internet, I would really appreciate it. I am sure they would, too.