Thoughts

Yesterday afternoon I was sitting on the couch crafting some things for an upcoming train party.  As usual for 3:00 around here, "Ellen" was on in the background.  I was listening, but not intently.  She was in the middle of some story or something when all of a sudden scenes of Boston cut in.  There was no warning...no "special report" announcement or anything...and at first I didn't really know if it was real or if it was just some wacky tv issue.  I turned on other channels to see if there was coverage, checked Facebook to see if my news feed had some answers, and for a few short moments I didn't get confirmation elsewhere.  But then, slowly but surely, other channels switched on the coverage and it quickly became clear that we had yet another national tragedy on our hands.
I debated whether or not to comment on the Boston Marathon tragedy.   Really, I have nothing new or insightful to add to the dialogue.  But at the same time, saying nothing, or even worse publishing the recipe I had originally planned to post, just seemed so disrespectful.  So, in the end, I decided to share my thoughts...
I think what strikes me most about this is how angry it makes me.  I, like many others, found Sandy Hook to be devastating.  I shed actual tears thinking about those poor children, and their families, and the educators, and everything about it.  And as more stories come to the forefront about the victims of this event, I am sure I will feel sad for the families effected by this event.  But even more so, I am just pissed off...and annoyed...that these things keep happening.  That innocent people keep dying because someone who is mad with the world gets his/her kicks from this sort of thing.
And in a lot of ways, I worry that this event is somehow a game changer.  As I type this, not much is known about who is responsible.  But in the news coverage I have watched, there has been much speculation that it may just be one person and not a whole organization and there have been lots of similarities drawn between the actions of today and the things that happen in Israel, Iraq, and other countries on the regular.  I have often watched the news and thought how awful it would be to live somewhere that you have to be in fear of someone bombing the restaurant you're eating at, or the bus stop you're waiting at, etc.  I hope I'm being dramatic, but I find it absolutely terrifying...and infuriating...that my boys may grow up in a world with that reality.
But most of all, I'm thinking we've got to quit letting these wackadoodles get so much satisfaction.  I'm guilty of it as much as anyone, but instead of giving these events so much attention, I say we focus our energy on something positive.
On that note, I saw this on Facebook and have decided it is my mission to teach my children the following:
                                
LOVE IT!  Thoughts and prayers to all those affected in Boston...