http://edition.cnn.com/2013/04/16/us/boston-marathon-explosions/index.html
In my generation, a decent chunk of our lives has been dedicated to mourning terrorism and other tragedies in the United States. My childhood was marked by the attacks on September 11th, 2001, and although I was too young to fully grasp the gravity of the situation, I understood even as a nine-year-old that something terrible had come to pass. After all these years, I've heard and read about the other tragedies befalling the country, such as last year's Newtown, Connecticut shooting, and I've felt more and more of the meanings of these situations. Tonight, I gained the news from afar of the explosions at the Boston Marathon.
After a dinner of chicken and pasta, some friends and I were lounging around the table, digesting our meals and enjoying each other's company, as Alyssa walked in and asked us if we had heard about what happened at the Boston Marathon. Living under a rock as we do, with no TV or newspaper, we didn't know any details yet, but our Facebook and Twitter feeds were suddenly alight with vague reports of the explosions. We turned to news websites as soon as possible in an effort to learn as much as we could about the situation.
Never in my life had the Internet seemed to work so woefully slow, but we pulled up every article that we could, and eventually gathered around Alyssa's iTouch to watch the latest CNN report. Even in that moment of being so far away from everything that was happening, only seeing it on that tiny screen, I felt so deeply struck by the event. This marathon included parents from Newtown, who had already seen too much tragedy in the past year, and now they've been faced with even further devastation. Today was supposed to mark hope for them, and now it's a day of further loss, having already taken two lives according to what I've read thus far. The number of lives feeling this loss is so much greater than the number of people present at the marathon.
The song "The News" by Jack Johnson keeps playing in my head. If you've heard it, you'll understand.
I feel so deeply for what happened today. In the american microcosm of my apartment, I know that I'm surrounded by similar sentiments, but I don't know what I'll find when I go out into the streets of France tomorrow. Maybe some of them have family in the States. Maybe some of them know. Maybe some of them care, and that would be more than most Americans I know could give if the tables were turned. I don't know what to expect of this situation and its aftermath in the context of this country. I can't help but to wonder if it would affect me any differently if I were back in the States right now.
I don't remember much about September 11th, that vague concept of a day from my childhood, but I know that I'll remember today. I will continue to pray for those affected by today's explosions.
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