Boston bombing hits close to home

My son Garry used to live in Boston, so when I heard news of two explosions going off in Boston Monday, it caught my attention.

I was at home recovering from surgery, watching TV and scanning through the news on the internet when I saw the headline breaking news.

I did what every American probably did; I turned the station to my favorite news station and watched the news for the rest of the afternoon.

Wars exist everywhere. We watch them from our living room and then we go back to our business. We don’t worry about our route to work having bombs placed in strategic places.

But Monday, more than 26,000 people were in Boston from around the world to run in the annual marathon had a terrifying thing happen to them. Reports of severe injuries, similar to those during explosions in war, began to come onto the broadcast.

The scene was familiar. I knew that street. I had walked it with my son. I sent Garry a text about the bombing, as he was in Denver taking a friend to the airport. Sure enough, it was three blocks away from his old dorm room.

The streets in Boston are crowded, especially to a person who has lived in Wyoming for 20-plus years, on a normal day. I can’t imagine what it was like with the streets filled with policemen, support staff and runners. Yet, with all of these people around and heightened security an explosion catches us off guard.

Within hours, an iconic image of a runner falling from apparent shrapnel from the first explosion spread across the various media.

We never know how we are going to be affected by something that seems so remote.

My mom posted about a person she knew running the marathon. My family has many branches and some cousins I have never met including this one. She finished the race at four hours, six minutes and 39 seconds.

I know that because I searched the name my mom posted on Facebook, Bobbi Snodgrass.

I told my mom what I found. She was worried after I told her that the bomb exploded at four hours nine minutes and 47 seconds. The clock was counting the seconds as the iconic runner fell to the ground. It took nearly six seconds for him to fall to the ground. I know that because the news played that image over and over again.

Mom heard from her cousin and she is safe.

People in the country are reeling from the events of the day. Some are lashing out by making rude comments on news articles. Others are blaming the President of the United States, while others are beginning to believe April is a month for terrorism and tears.

It is hard to understand why one person or group would want to cause so much harm to innocent people. It happens more often than it should. For some, it is a daily reminder of where they live. For others, it is a wake-up call that the world is not always safe.

For all of us, it should be a reminder that we share this earth, and need to figure out how to share it in peace.