Boston

Meowlo everyone.

First, let me say that Selina and I are so glad and thankful that our blogging Aby buddy, JACOBY, and his family in Boston are OK and were not at the blast site yesterday.

Today is a sad day.  The inevitable question one asks in these situations is, "Why?"  While there are many statements that one can make in an attempt to answer that question, unfortunately the truth is that there are no real answers.  At least, there are none that sufficiently explain why some humans would want to kill or maim another group of humans, whom they do not know and ostensibly have no real quarrel with, to no outward, immediately apparent advantage to themselves.   


Attempting to explain yesterday's bombings (or any other act of terror) by saying, "Well, there are bad people in the world", or "Some people just want to cause trouble" merely states the obvious.  In the end, whatever the reason given, none can adequately explain an event of this kind.  The mere use of the word "reason" implies "rationality", but there's nothing "rational" about deliberately placing explosive devices loaded with black powder and ball bearings at an international sporting event where they are guaranteed to cause a maximum amount of damage and death.   

So, in answer to the question, "Why would some unknown people want to cause the mayhem, destruction and terror that they caused in Boston yesterday?", it occurs to me that the truest, most accurate answers to this question can only be ... because they want to, because such an act gives them feelings of pleasure/power/triumph ... or, most chilling of all ...  because they can.

Do these answers help us understand "Why?"  No, of course not.

But, in asking ourselves "Why?" and finding ourselves unable to formulate a really satisfactory answer, we must take what good we can out of these things.  

One good thing that is always, always true in times like these is that, out of the wreckage emerge stories of courage, bravery and, yes, happy endings - like people who, lost in the chaos, find their loved one(s) safe and intact.  Or what I heard on NPR this morning about Peter Sagal (host of the NPR radio quiz show, "Wait, Wait Don't Tell Me") who, having finished running the marathon himself, was escorting a blind runner when the blast occurred, and how he helped that person get to a safe place.  

That made me smile.  I felt a profound sense of gratitude that Mr. Sagal was there with that person when the bombs went off; how awful for someone who cannot see to have to try to negotiate such a situation alone, without help.  I want to thank him, somehow.  Hearing about this moved me deeply.   

I am sure there are hundreds of similar stories out there that will emerge in the days to come, as people try to piece together their heinously interrupted lives, to make sense of something senseless and move forward.  From them, we derive the message that, ultimately, the only good thing that can be said about events like these is that, for the majority of people involved, their natures' "better angels" are called forth.  They save people, they help people, they put themselves at risk - without consideration for their own physical safety - to ensure that someone else will make it through alive and intact or, at least, well-cared for and fated to survive beyond this minute.  

These are the folks that give me hope that, in the end, people are not ultimately evil but good, that the majority of them would NEVER do something like this and that, if they found themselves involved in such a situation, they would rise honorably and courageously to the occasion, contributing something positive to what is otherwise an ugly, pointless act of violence and terror.

People like these make me wonder, "How would I react in such a situation?"  I trust - and hope - that I would be as courageous as they. 

On a more intimate and personal level, events like this fly in the face of our all-too-human desire to deny, to adopt a "can't think about that now" attitude.  They serve to remind us that the unavoidable truth is we DON'T know what will happen to us during the course of the day.  We take so many things for granted, probably because to do otherwise - to try to contemplate or anticipate the many horrid things that could happen to us in the course of a day - would, in the end, render us completely unable to function.  

Every morning, Selina & Co. see me leave for work:  there are no guarantees for any of us that we'll see each other again once I've gone.  I assume I'll be back when I say I will - as we all do - but the world is a capricious place.  So, every morning before I leave for work, I make sure to tell Gary I love him, and he does the same.  Then, I find each cat individually, pet and love on them once more, tell them I love them and say, "I'll see you tonight, the usual time" as I head out the kitchen door.  Those are my exact words, every morning - rain, shine or otherwise.

My thoughts today are with the survivors and the families of the injured and the dead - child and adult alike.  And part of those thoughts involve the fervent hope that the perpetrators of this heinous deed are quickly found and brought to a well-deserved justice.  No punishment can be too swift, or too harsh, for people who do these things.

Hug your friends and loved ones today, and DEFINITELY hug your pets extra closely.  Reflect on the fact that we are so, so lucky to even be here at all.  And think about those grieving today, and those caring for the wounded and injured.  They need all the positive thoughts and karma they can get.


Benjamin Franklin once wrote, "Dost thou love life?  Then do not squander time, for that's the stuff life is made of."  Make the most of it; cherish every second you get, because you aren't promised any of them.

We'll get back to my silly, funny, sweet uniocular kitty later this week.  Meanwhile, she and I send our love to each and every one of you.

Be safe.

Soft purrs,
Selina & MomKatt Laura