Wordless Wednesday ..... kind of

Normally Wordless Wednesday consists of a single photo that speaks to me. Usually it is one that I have taken and it means something. But today I wanted to share voices .... thousands of them. Voices that speak of pride and strength and passion!

" .... the land of the free and the home of the brave."

http://video.nhl.com/videocenter/console?catid=0&id=240031&cmpid=embed-share-video

Too close for comfort .... another sad day

http://ronsaari.com/stockImages/bosto

As each horrific event in American history unfolds I think to myself .... this has to be the worst. This has to be the one that will harden me, this has to be the one to desensitize me. But here I am again. Shocked and silenced and not knowing what I should be feeling or how I should be reacting.

It was just a normal day .... again the weather was beautiful (that was what I remember most about 9/11 - it was a beautiful day).

www.boston.com/marathon/course

Patriots' Day in Boston is kind of a big deal. It commemorates the beginning of our battle toward democracy - toward freedom from tyranny- toward both independence and camaraderie. It is the day of the Boston Marathon where people climb Heartbreak Hill and come to end of a grueling day to the smiles and embraces of those who love and support them.

For me it was a much needed break from the Monday morning commute. An extra day to spend with my son and my husband (today is my wedding anniversary). School vacation had started, I was home from work, the six-year-old had friends over, and we were just all hanging out in the yard playing, and planting and working on the house.

We all came in when it started getting a little chilly and I got a robo-call from the university I work at in Boston saying that there was very little information about the two explosions at the finish line of the Boston Marathon. I was once again stunned and silenced. Once again I went to the TV to watch the footage and wait for some news that would somehow make it ok. I went to Facebook to check on friends who live and work in the city. And waited for some news that would make it ok.

The rumors started running wild .... from the number of people injured or dead to the suspects they may or may not have in custody ... to the families of the Newtown victims at the finish line (they are apparently safe thank goodness) to the third explosion at the JFK Library. Then the visuals ..... SWAT teams driving through the streets ..... to ATF agents holding a suspect at Brigham & Women's Hospital ..... to the arrest on the Boston Common .... to the stains on the street. And don't even get me started on the photos of the people being rushed to the hospital.

At some level all of these stories make you feel heartache as in "this is my country and I don't understand why someone would do this." But this time it is my home. The streets I walk on a beautiful afternoon on my lunch break. The places I take my kids to learn about history. The places my grandmother took me. And for me it will be a long time before I think of these streets as mine again.

There were two things in particular about this event that really made me pause, unable to know how to feel.

The first thing were these two photos - one taken at the time of the first explosion and one was taken at the time of the second explosion:



These people were finishing their race. These were not the star athletes of the day. I heard several times that the explosion was set at such a time as to have the most people finishing the race. The middle of the pack sort of speak - the average Joe - the everyday person.



These people were still running the marathon. They had not gotten to the location of the first explosion and probably had no idea what was going on. They were just making it through their race .... proud, sore, tired, exalted .... not knowing that their lives (even if they were not injured) would be changed forever.

It was just a normal day.

The other thing was the realization that one of the spectators who died was an 8-year-old boy. Sitting in the bleachers on a street I have walked down holding the hand of my own child. The senseless death of a child just doesn't ever get any easier and just doesn't ever make any sense to me.

But again .... as we look for a way to accept what we are watching, as we look for some sign that will make it less awful we find it. The heroes. The people who rush in when others rush out. The bystanders who ripped off their shirts to save the leg or the life of a complete stranger. The police and fire personnel and hospital workers who dropped whatever else they were doing this afternoon to go into a city people were fleeing to get the job done. Again for that briefest of moments we are aware of the worst horror that human nature can offer and at the same time the greatest sacrifice and compassion and unity that human nature has to offer. It is this thought .... of unwavering caring and sacrifice that I will bring to bed with me.

I wonder what kind of point was the person who placed these bombs at this location on this day trying to make? What could these people possibly have done to become victims of this kind of rage? The purpose of terrorism (foreign or domestic) is to instill terror. Did these people suffer just for that? Because someone thinks that this kind of event will stop people from living their lives? Do people not learn from history ..... none of the other terrorist events on American soil have ever stopped us from living our lives (at least not for long).

So tomorrow I am planning to make my commute to work. To be there for my students who need a shoulder or someone to yell at. As part of school vacation I still plan to bring my son into the city that I love to experience the beauty and the history and the energy .... because Boston is beautiful and vibrant and it always will be. If the patriots could survive to build a country .... we will survive this.

But I have to admit .... this one was a little too close to home!

"On days like this there are no Republicans or Democrats—we are Americans, united in concern for our fellow citizens." —President Obama

Update: above I mentioned that in tragedy we find heros. this is amazing to me .... people opening their homes to complete strangers .... offering rides or showers or just a place to catch their breath. The best that humanity has to offer right here! Boston Marathon Room Listing: http://mashable.com/2013/04/15/boston-marathon-room-offers/

Heroes can be found when you least expect it ........

Brad is 12 years old and he is the son of my best friend from high school. I didn't get to see much of Brad when he was younger; my best friend and I hadn't spoken for about 10 years (give or take). We didn't have a big fight or a falling out ... I think we just sort of let life get in the way. But thanks to MySpace we found each other again and picked up like no time had passed at all.

The first time I had seen her after all this time was at my son's 2nd birthday party and she came with her children. Her son was 9 at the time and had just recently been diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes. She came with a backpack loaded with supplies, notebooks to write down what he ate and when, stuff to bring his sugar up and medication to bring it down, test strips and glucose tablets ..... just lots of stuff. She had told me about when they had realized he was sick. The scariness of finding your child in the middle of the night lethargic and talking gibberish ..... going to your hospital to have him rushed to another state to Boston's Children's Hospital ...... to finally getting him stable and getting the news that your child's life would never be the same. They got a very quick lesson in diabetes and my best friend was handed a needle and said here .... stick you son, it will keep him alive, here is some medication .... now head home and change your entire world.

I'm not sure what I expected when I met him. I was not prepared for the lively, smiling, active kid that I met. Not a complaint about haveing his finger pricked to have his blood checked, no whining about fixing his sugar levels. I am not sure what I expected, but what I got was a kid .... just your average, run-of-the-mill kid. I was amazed. At this point I had lived with my illness for about 2 years. I have always thought that a positive attitude was the best medicine. So I was convinced that this kid would grow up and find a cure for diabetes. He just seemed to accept all the horrors of this disease as inconveniences not worthy of much discussion or debate (I think that also has something to do with my best friend being a fabulous mom). And I have wondered often if I, as an adult, could go through this kind of life altering diagnosis and come out as unscathed on the other side.

To top it all off, this amazing kid asked his mom .... some six months after being diagnosed, if he could participate in a 3-mile walk to raise money for a cure. How could his mom refuse that! So, on the fly they created a team: Brad's Bruisers and they walked.

He is now 12-years-old and is still your run of the mill kid getting ready to be a teenager. He hangs out with friends, fights with his little sister, and occasionally talks back to his mom; just a normal kid. And he is getting ready to walk his 4th walk to find a cure. I hope that you will visit his page and give him a hand. I know that times are tough, but I also know that heroes are hard to come by and to find one in a 12-year-old boy needs to be rewarded! What better reward than helping them at best find a cure .... at the least find a way to make his life a little easier and more tolerable. Every dollar counts!

If you would like to find out more about JDRF or donate to Brad's team click HERE!

If you need more information about Type 1 Diabetes click HERE!

So, I was thinking about how I would write this blog on my drive home. And on the radio there was an interview with Roger Ebert of Siskel & Ebert fame. It is amazing how you can find a hero when you least expect it.

I have to admit, I never watched the show. While I enjoy movies, they never really were my life-blood if you know what I mean. listening to this story I am wishing I had watched him more often. He again is someone who has been struck by illness and just seems to embrace life more than most healthy people I know. He has battled several cancers and the devastating results of reconstructive surgeries that haven't worked. He can no longer speak, but continues to do the work he loves via blogs (you will notice I added it to my blogs of note), Twitter and voice recognition software. It is amazing how sometimes you can learn something about someone you have never given a second thought and all of a sudden you wish you could meet them and shake their hands.

Two heroes in one day .... funny how life works!