With all the good we have going on our lives...great food, meals, families...when something like the cyclone in Myanmar or the earthquake in China happens, even though it is all over the news, we still are somehow disconnected. But sometimes I think it our responsibility to connect to what's happening, if only to remind us of how incredibly fortunate we are and also to realize how others suffer these life crushing blows.I was thinking of this while listening to this amazing report from NPR's Melissa Block who is in western China reporting on the devastation. This heart-wrenching story (click on the "listen now" button to hear) tells the story of a couple's desperate search for their almost two year old son and their parents in a collapsed apartment building. I was on my way home from work, parked in front of my house, and couldn't get out of the car until it was over. When it was I had tears running down my cheeks. It takes 11 minutes of your time, and you'll hopefully never forget it.
2 comments:
Yes, how fortunate we are and how we take it for granted. I was especially moved to tears when I read the quote of the day in the NYT. The story that preempted it was about how many of the victims were children in a country where most families only get to have one child.
The quote was from a couple with an 8 yr old child "Our grief is incomparable. We got married late, had a child late. She is our only child."
I stopped everything and hugged tight our little 2 yr old girl.
I listened to the report on the way home in the car and had to pull over because I was crying my eyes out. Great reporting on NPR's part, and brought this tragedy home in a big way.
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