Boston

Most of you may not agree with me posting this on the 4:cast site but I need to do it so please bear with me.

This morning I read two things that created complete polar opposites in emotion.

As a father there is a need and desire within me to protect my children no matter what. I love each of them more than life itself and would do anything to protect them. Spencer, my only boy, turns 6 on Friday. He really is my little buddy. We do loads together. We hit golf balls, we play soccer, we play XBOX, and so on. I can imagine that if I were to do something incredible like run a marathon, he would be cheering me on and waiting for me at the finish line just as Martin Richard was doing for his father yesterday.

He had made his way to the finish line, waiting for his dad to arrive so that he could greet him with a big hug. It would have been an amazing moment for father and son but the first explosion killed 8-year-old Martin, took the leg of his 6-year-old sister, and severely injured his mother.

My heart breaks at the thought of what this family has endured over the last 24 hours and what they will endure for the rest of their lives. It is my deepest fear that anything happens to any of my children.

Martin, nor his sister had done anything wrong. They were supporting their dad as he strove to accomplish a great achievement. As young children they had no political persuasion. They didn’t have any means of making changes to domestic or foreign policy. Martin was an 8-year-old boy! What justification can any human being possibly give for such actions?

You people are cowards. Cowards for settings bombs in the shadows and (probably) detonating them remotely. Cowards for attacking innocent people. Cowards for attacking people that were running for numerous charities. I hope that whatever cause you support fails in the worst of all ways. You people are despicable and I hope that when you are found, and you will be found, that you will be brought to account for your deeds.

In the wake of this atrocity, as there is in any tragedy, there are many examples of the goodness of people and the desire to carry on regardless of these terrorists.

An engaged couple ran in the Marathon yesterday. They crossed the finish line some time before the first explosion. They were due to be married later in the day, and they were. The pictures show them, still wearing their running shoes, exchanging vows.

Good for you!

The worst thing we can do, no matter how tempting, in times such as this is to hide in our homes and hope that nothing will ever happen to us or our loved ones. We show our courage by getting on with our lives. We still get on airplanes after 9-11, we still send our kids to school after Sandy Hook, we still run in marathons after the Boston bombings.

We will still live our lives regardless. This doesn’t mean we don’t care about those whose lives were lost, far from it. We honor them by not letting these vile terrorists affect us.

I’m not afraid to admit that I cried when I read about Martin this morning. This poor child was sacrificed for some unknown reason for doing nothing more than showing support to his father. Don’t let his death be in vain.