Retirement is a week filled with Saturdays and Sundays interrupted only occasionally by a holiday.

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Wednesday, August 1, 2007

A Sad Day

I meant to post earlier this evening but I’ve been watching the news coming out of Minneapolis about the tragic bridge collapse near the University of Minnesota. Rick’s niece is a student at the university and, once we saw the tragedy on cable news, we immediately called Rick’s brother and sister-in-law to make sure Niece was OK. It turns out they had not been watching TV so they were completely in the dark...they live in another city in Minnesota. They immediately turned on the news and Rick’s brother told us that he had just taken Niece back to school a few days ago and had driven over that very same bridge. Although they hadn’t heard from her yet, they believed her to be OK and we are hoping they are correct. It’s now been a few hours and we’ve had no return phone call so we are assuming all is well with Niece.

Watching the news unfold, I’ve once again been struck by the truly fragile nature of life. Something as innocent as a drive to or from home, work, school, the supermarket can turn deadly in the blink of an eye. There is no warning…it just happens. My thoughts and prayers are most certainly with the victims and their families as Minneapolis attempts to recover from this deadly disaster.

13 comments:

Michele said...

It is a sad sad event indeed and yes, my prayers are with the victims and families as well that became in harms way of this horrible disaster. I pray that Niece is well. Please keep us updated.

Susie said...

We had CNN on all evening. Just such a tragedy. Here in the Bay Area, bridges help keep us all connected and it's frightening to think of something like that happening here.
My prayers are with all those families and victims.
xo

ms chica said...

I admit, I hardly watch the news or follow current events due to the excessive sensationalism of 24 hour media. My husband mentioned this last night.

It's true, at any given moment our lives hang in the balance of forces beyond our control. It's a shame we don't treat others courteously as if any day could be our last. It always takes a tragedy to remind us.

Renee Nefe said...

We're praying for the victims & families as well. that's just so scary.

What bothered me was our local news showing video and they had no feed to anyone there...so they were just speculating on what happened. That gets me so mad, if they don't know anything show something else and wait until they do know something.

Last I heard there were 8 confirmed dead. Praying the number isn't higher in the end. So sad how fragil life and things are. It will be interesting to see when the last inspection on that bridge was and how sound they thought it was.

the moose buyer said...

Such a horrible thing to happen. I can't imagine how frightening it must have been for those people on that bridge while it was falling from under them.

Sometimes fate just makes a wrong turn!!! I am praying for them and their families.

Midlife Mom said...

Such a sad, sad event to take place in a blink of an eye. One never knows from moment to moment what is going to happen in life. I'm so glad that the school children got out safely.

Pam said...

This hits close to home for us. Too close. I can't imagine what the people who are waiting for word on their loved ones are going through.

Lynn said...

Truly a case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. My thoughts and prayers to those who died, and their families.

Carole Burant said...

To hear about the bridge collapse was certainly devastating news. It makes one realize how easily our lives can change with no warning. I think a lot of people around the world will be scared of driving over bridges...you just never know! I do hope you've heard from your niece by now??? xox

Empress Bee (of the high sea) said...

just horrible! sigh...

and sorry, i tagged you today.

smiles, bee

Linda said...

You just never, never know when you walk out there if you're going to walk back in again. A simple trip to the store can turn into a tragic accident and you can never ever predict it.

I hope your niece is okay and I am just thankful that this was not worse than it is. Very thankful.

Patti said...

I hope your niece is fine and she didn't know anyone involved in this tragic event.
Life is indeed fragile. Something can happen in the blink of an eye.

rosemary said...

Awful stuff to watch...and now the news is doing crazy stuff like will this aggravate those that already have bridge fears or how to get out of a car if you are sinking and your electric windows don't work, and on and on. I can't bear to think of what went through peoples minds while on the bridge.....just like 9/11 and Katrina. Awful stuff. Question? where is all the money needed to fix these bridges?