In the middle of our long school hallways, on my way down to get the student-led conference schedules from the printer, I meet the Music teacher. We are not the only ones still in the building two hours after school. We smile and remind each other to go home. Enough is enough.
Driving home, I focus on the road, trying to empty my mind of all school related thoughts.
It's great to see lights on when I arrive home
Hubby is home before me, peeling potatoes already.
After greeting him, I change for comfier clothes, nest myself on the sofa and try calling my youngest who is at grandma's today. Her phone is busy so I call on my mom's phone. Apparently my daughter is chatting with her friends. Mom shares about her trip to a library, retells parts of and recommends Pamela Druckerman's book Bringing Up Bebe and a book by Pavel Sanaev. By the time we finish, Mimm is ready to tell about her day in detail - about a movie making workshop she participates in, the writing exercises they did there, the cute guys who also participate, the cafe visit with granny, the new PJs she got, about the color of nail polish she plans to use in the evening.
Not a minute after I hang up with my daughter, my sister calls.
I tell her about my long day, she shares what she made for dinner, we talk about the plans for the upcoming weekend.
"Did you hear about Brussels?" she asks me.
"No. What about it?" I ask.
"Are you serious, you haven't heard the news?" she sounds surprised.
"I just got home and haven't seen the news, yet. What happened? Not bombs," I ask, but even before she says it, I know the answer.
"Three bombs, two in the airport and one in the metro. Thirty dead," my sis reports, "I called our cousin as soon as I heard. She and her family are ok. They were in the airport's parking lot when the bombs went off. Lucky that they were a bit late and didn't enter the airport. They returned home."
While destruction and death shocked the capital of Belgium, my biggest worries were the unfinished reflections and the printer running out of paper.
The people on the metro and in the airport started their day with plans and worries, and maybe with a funny tune on their lips, or a silly argument with their family, maybe they were annoyed by a coffee gone cold or someone stepping on their toes, maybe they were in the middle of reading a heart tugging book, maybe they were excited about finally going on a trip or meeting a long lost friend. And then. That was it.
Maybe it would be easier to be oblivious to what the news brings. Live the life without knowing. Wrapped in a bubble. But it wouldn't undo the evil, and sad, and unfair.
Scary to think that the so far seemingly peaceful and safe Europe experiences so much horror.
Scary to think that the so far seemingly peaceful and safe Europe experiences so much horror.
The mind struggles to understand how is it possible that there are people in the world who believe that killing others, many innocent people, could be a solution to anything.
Sometimes I too wonder if it's better to live inside that bubble of safety and be oblivious to our crazy world, but then who would be the voices? You have provided a closer insight to this tragedy than I'll ever see or read this week. Thank you for reminding me that my worries (we are out of printer paper too!) are nothing compared to those that lost their lives or those that are questioning why they were saved ... My mind struggles with understanding too.
ReplyDeleteI imagine we have all had your moment- where you realize you were oblivious to something important going on. And we are torn- do we have to know about every bad, troubling thing? But your surprising paragraph about your cousins brings it all home. We all have people we love out in the world, and they might or might not be hurt by these events. And it could even be us. You write very well about ordinary people whose lives might be interrupted by violence.
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ReplyDeleteAnother tragic event in this world of ours. I often wonder why we can't live in peace and find happiness with what we have. But, the evil is all too prevalent and is happening why too often. We pray for those families who have lost loved ones.
ReplyDeleteThank you for your treatment of this subject. I, too, wrestle with it. The choice--to know or not to know. I will not exist in a bubble, but neither will I continually overdose on opinions, tragedies, or evil. It is a difficult balance.
ReplyDeleteThank goodness your family is okay, Terje. What a horrible experience.
ReplyDeleteJennifer
Unfortunately, this is become an almost every day occurrence it would be impossible to live in a bubble. It frightens me to think what is going on in the country and world, but we have to continue on and live and not let these nut jobs put us in a life of fear.
ReplyDeleteAnother difficult day - I've been thinking about those families all day. Nothing is ever solved by murder and destruction.
ReplyDeleteOne never knows what a day might bring with each hour. It is incomprehensible the mindset of the people who plan this destruction.
ReplyDeleteIt was hard to hear today! So glad your family is safe. I don't understand how people can do this to others. A sad day once again.
ReplyDeleteI was behind on learning about the tragedy as well...My heart aches. I, too, think about when they woke up that morning and then...Precious lives...
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