heavy hearts

How do you mourn someone you never knew. 

Today is the birthday of one of my aunties I never had the privilege of meeting before she was called home to heaven. 

Another aunty on the other side of the family had a stillborn baby.
A cousin that I never met. 

Today marks the first year since the passing of one of my brothers school mates.

This morning I woke up to the sound of the TV, immediately I knew something was wrong. Our TV is never on before the siblings go to school.
I heard the word "marathon" vibrate around the room, and immediately thought of the marathon that took place in my state just the other day.

I then found out there was a bombing, in Boston.
I breathed a sigh of relief that it wasn't near my hometown,

How could I be so selfish, yes it wasn't in my country, it was somewhere else but it easily could have happened to me or my family. Just because it was on the other side of the world, doesn't make it any less serious. 
My heart broke for those who live there.
These families now have one less pair of arms to hug at Christmas time.

Just like the shootings at Sandy Hooke, Aurora Cinemas, September 11 and Columbine, the Boston Marathon will be written down as one of these horrific events of history. 

People will remember forever.

I can't even begin to imagine what these families go through.
The lives of those around them are changed. 

And yet somehow they still seem to muddle their way through life.

This world is filled with terrible things and terrible people. 

However this world is also filled with wonderful things and beautiful people. 

"For every one person that plants a bomb you have hundreds more running a marathon. For every one person that makes a joke about the dead and dying, you have thousands more donating blood, offering prayers and volunteering their time. Things like this are the fault of single individuals who make violent, loud statements. We just have to make sure that the statements of good are louder." 

During moments like these I often come back to this song. 

I don't know who you are or what you're going through.
There is always dark before the morning.
Stay strong.