REMEMBERING BOSTON!

TERROR IN BOSTON

AP PHOTO--Runners & Spectators Shocked By Blast in Boston

(Boston, Massachusetts)--Shock, disgust, horror! These are just a few of the words still embedded in my brain as I wake up the morning after The Boston Marathon Tragedy. The continuing news coverage, the bloody images of dismembered limbs, the screams and sound, it's all too much.

Though it happened on U.S. soil it's just not our nation!  Thousands of the runners crowded into Downtown Boston for this annual marathon were from England, China, Africa and Australia. This is a "world tragedy!"

As the world watches, back here at home one thing is certain, even the most basic community experience of coming together and having fun has been compromised. The Hangout Festival is weeks away in Gulf Shores. Organizers in Huntsville are putting the finishing touches on Panoply, another  annual event that attracts thousands in Big Spring Park in North, Alabama.  I can only imagine the music, the stage, the outdoor extravaganza is secondary now to safety.  Organizers and municipalities everywhere are now wondering could it happen here?  Are we truly safe anywhere?

The Boston tragedy shows us how nonchalant we have become about living. How many times have you gone through the airport and frowned at the TSA?  This almost has a Newtown, Connect feeling where it "hits too close to home!"  Common everyday folks going about their everyday business  are now the target.  Where they live, breathe, shop, run is now on the attack.  Wake up America, much like Europe our everyday lives and simple things we take for granted are increasingly becoming more vulnerable to those who hate.                

This tragedy serves as a wake up call to "expect the unexpected" and stay vigilant. The police and The FBI simply can't  be everywhere, all the time.  You can't prevent everything and our nation's leaders and security officials can't stop it all.  

Nothing is guaranteed and this tragedy simply can't alter how we live everyday life. Our consciousness is heightened and Boston has left us more than aware of just how "fleeting our time with our family can truly be." 

As we all struggle to deal with the "freeze frame" of those horrific images that continue to play over and over in our minds,  lets also remember the images of strangers running to the finish line to help.  Remember the people who went from picking up make shift gurney to rolling up their sleeves at hospital emergency rooms to donate blood. We can't allow the enemy to win. We simply have to take a cue from the rest of the world and live our lives with "the new norm," a heightened awareness of "what if?"  This week's Boston tragedy is a sobering reminder--"America is not immune!"