Thoughts on Tragedy

Writing a blog can be therapeutic I've found, particularly when struggling with bad news, as we all do. Yesterday's horrific tragedy at Virginia Tech University leaves us with more questions than answers. Although at this point we still have not learned what motivated the shootings, I won't wait for the answer. It won't satisfy my need to rationalize or explain what happened. It never does.

But I do want to share my reaction, because it is the same reaction I have anytime I learn of a tragedy like this, which occurs all too often. I wonder how I would react. Would I lie down and "play dead" in the hope of survival and self-preservation? Would I risk my life and attempt to step in and stop it? None can be blamed for running and hiding in the face of immenent danger, yet I think of the bravery of those students who held their bodies against the door with a gunman on the other side trying to get in.

This haunting question is one I cannot answer, nor do I ever hope to, but I think of it every time I'm reminded of 9/11, Columbine and now Virginia Tech. I'd like to think I would be willing to do whatever it took to save the lives of others, despite all that I have to live for. I just don't know. My thoughts and prayers are with the Virginia Tech University community and the families of the victims.