boston marathon thoughts and prayers

I heard the news around 2:30 this afternoon about the explosion at the Boston Marathon.  I was running an errand after school and the local sports radio station starting talking about it. Needless to say, I was shocked.  And worried for those I know who are there today.

You see, working in a school allows for a sense of isolation.  I am busy with students all day, I don't have the news or TV on so I don't always know what is happening in the real world unless someone mentions it and I pull up the Internet.  And, even then, I end up distracted by students and don't always see the full story until the evening.

There is a blessing to this isolation.  There is also a curse.  Not only do you have to deal with your emotions from an event, but you also have to be there to console and try to help high school students come to grips with their emotions from the event.

When Columbine happened, I was on spring break and found myself glued to the TV.  For hours.  Visions from that day are seared into my mind. That was a terrible day.  Ever since, I vowed to wait a few hours before looking at the images and being very choosy about what I watch.

On 9/11, I was working in a new school that didn't have cable or Internet hooked up.  I didn't see any images until I arrived home late that evening.  Truthfully, I still haven't watched the planes hit the towers. 

I don't watch terrible car crashes.  I have yet to see any footage from the Sandy Hook school shootings or any other major newsworthy events in the past few years.  I just can't do it.

I can't say the same of today's explosion at the race.  To be clear, I didn't watch because of the gore.  What may have begun as a desire to learn more about the event, became an observation of human reaction.  I watched the footage because I was inspired by the policemen and women, the armed forces, the runners and individuals who dove into the middle of the explosion site to help.  They didn't shy away from what must be done.  They dove in and took care of business. 

They took care of each other.
 I love that.

Despite the fear and craziness that is happening in Boston, I want to believe that good will come out of this event.  Seems to me that going after runners might have been a bad move because if there is any group that has proven resilience, it is a group of runners.  I mean, they get up and pound the pavement, mile after mile, FOR ABSOLUTELY NO REASON.  Set off an explosion at one of their events and I suspect runners are not a group that is going to let you win.

Otherwise, if there is no good that comes from today's events, I may have to create some sort of force field around my house to keep us isolated forever.  Because the hardest thing to think about is this evil coming close to my family and hurting one of my boys. 

And I don't have enough alcohol in this house for that pain....or, for that matter, the isolation of living in a force field 24/7.

Please send your thoughts and prayers to Boston right now.