Mixture


Today is one of those days when I have a mix of gratitude/thankfulness and an immense sadness.

I am so very grateful and thankful to have a roof over our heads and comfortable beds.
Grateful to have running cold and hot water.
Thankful to have heat and a/c.
Grateful to know where my next meal is coming from.
So very thankful and grateful all around.

The sadness comes from two angles for me tonight.

The first is those affected by the twister that struck Moore, OK earlier today.The tornado, as of right now, being measured as an EF-4. It sounds as though it was a mile wide and had winds up to 200 miles per hour.

But forget all that. One of the places the tornado destroyed was an elementary school and all I keep thinking about is those kids. How terrified they must have been. Maybe I'm more sensitive to it now that I have a child that age. I just can't help but think of how awful that was for them. Not just this tragedy, but any tragedy involving kids.

When I was young I hate thunderstorms. I was terrified of tornadoes. I remember getting physically ill at the thought of an impending storm. These days I tend to be less perturbed by them and more fascinated. But the moment human lives are affected the science behind it stops to matter and taking care of fellow humans takes precedence.

The other part of the sadness comes from working the Homeless Connect event in downtown Minneapolis. My involvement in the event was simple – take bikes that need fixing and fix them. Make them better than then came in. A simple and adventurous task, make no mistake. What struck me this year was talking to some of the people whose bikes I was repairing. I know the homeless are just people. But it can be easy to forget that. To shove that thought into the dark corner of the mind and just go about my day. But being covered in grease and talking to the person eye to eye, that dark corner of the mind shrinks pretty rapidly. What I'm trying to say is what struck me was the humanity of those I helped. I didn't learn their stories. I don't know who they are. I just know they needed help and I could help them. And they were grateful and thankful.

And so am I.

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