Prayers for Boston

   I know that I speak for everyone that is a part of this Blog when I say that we send out our prayers for those affected by today's explosions at the Boston Marathon.
  One of our group of SMC women is a Bostonian, and has run the Boston Marathon. My heart sank today when I first saw the news and tried to call her and she didn't pick up. Eventually we connected and learned that her and her family are all safe. I can only imagine being someone who is still wondering if their loved ones are okay or not, or even worse have heard terrible news.
   This type of attack hits very close to home for me. When I was in the Army my job was specifically to stop or deter this type of explosive attack. It hurts my heart to see anything like this happen to anyone, military or not. But to see something like this happen in our country, to civilians not trained to respond, or even be alert and looking for something like this, is unspeakable and I cannot express in words my sympathy for the people there affected by it and those who have to live with that horrific memory.
   The more I reflect on this event and the more I hear about what happened, my feelings are all over the place. I can't believe someone could do this. As someone who volunteered for the military in hopes to ensure something like this doesn't happen to our country, it makes me feel like I let those people in Boston down. I'm frustrated that our country hasn't been doing more since 9/11 to ensure each and every citizen knows what to look for and is on alert at events like this. I'm deeply saddened for those killed, hurt, and even those terrified by what they saw. I know that it has forever changed their lives.
   My full range of emotions then circles back around to patriotic. We will pull through this. No one, evil person can stop us. We're America. and then it hits me, we're blessed that this type of tragic event is still considered a tragedy in our country. We're blessed that we can go for a run in our neighborhood and not worry.  Most of us have been to, or at least heard of, a country that this type of thing is an everyday occasion. Something like this doesn't surprise anyone when its on the news at night.
  My hope is that we are able to keep our country that way, to keep war out of our own backyards, to keep the majority of our people's innocence and their understanding of war to what they've seen on the news and movies. I pray for everyone affected, for the emergency personnel and those helping at the scene. I pray that the government and security officials can make sense of this soon and bring justice to those who did this. And I pray for those who built and set off those bombs, I pray that they come to a full realization of what they did and are hit with a remorse that stops them cold.