Where Were You?

I use my iPod for two purposes. One is to pass the time on long airline flights (they are few and far between) and the other is to keep me running when I don’t have a running buddy along for a chat.   Some of the music is slow and I have to skip over those songs. I like Alan Jackson, The Beatles, Jason Aldean, and Broadway Soundtracks.  I use the shuffle mode because I like to be surprised when a new song begins to play.

One song that frequently tumbles in is “Where Were You When the World Stopped Turning?” by Alan Jackson.  (It’s an old album.) I remember exactly where I was and what I was doing when the Twin Towers were hit. I was in my lab bending wires for retainers while my children were getting ready for school.  I remember it like yesterday.  So too, I suppose, shall I remember the Boston Bombings as Monday’s attack has been dubbed.

Monday morning I was very interested in the Women’s Elite race. I had been casually following Shalane Flannagan and Kara Goucher as they trained for Boston.  I had a friend visit just as the race was ending.  She isn’t a runner, nor is she an avid fan, but I forced her to watch.  Congratulations to those two American runners!

Later in the day I was once again I my lab bending wires when I received a call from my friend.

“Are you still watching the Boston Marathon?”  She asked.  She then informed me of the blasts that had occurred.  I turned on the TV and began watching the coverage.  Here are some observations:

·         Innocent people always suffer from selfish acts of others.

·         Heroes always surface in the face of tragedy.

·         There is more goodness in the world than bad.

·         The world doesn’t stop turning. Our understanding of the world changes.

·         Boston Bombings did not have the magnitude of 9/11, but for a few the pains and suffering are greater because it affected them personally.

·         Everyday people suffer tragedies and nobody knows.  The rest of us go on our merry way.

 

Boston will remain vivid in my memory as does 9/11.  I am certain I will consider both when Alan Jackson begins to croon, “Where were you when …”