Reality Check: Not just another chapter in a book

I love to read, I love to be transported into another person's life and see how their story progresses.  There's something magical about being pulled into a book and not having to worry about your own life for a few hours while the characters go through a series of changes and plot twists.  I've read about terrible things happening in the world to these characters and never gave it a second thought.    Then, something happens and I realize that it's actually happening to me and it's not as magical as I thought it would be. 

Yesterday, during our marketing meeting, my father's cell phone went crazy with news updates and he said "there was a bombing at the Boston Marathon."  My heart stopped and my mind went blank.  We immediately went online to Twitter and the local news sites and started watching as the updates came through, it was heartbreaking. 

Suddenly the quiet office, I work with a bunch of developers and engineers so you can usually hear a pin drop in the office, exploded with people texting and calling loved ones, checking every single news source out there and trying to get more information.  My phone was inundated with messages from friends and family members checking to make sure that Ian, my family and I were okay, it was surreal.  Thankfully, all of my friends who are in Boston and running the Marathon are safe, shaken up, but safe.

But the worst part of this entire experience has been the video coverage that has been playing in the news.  In it I can see a street I am very familiar with, a painting on the street that I've taken so many picture of, buildings and stores I've gone to frequently and the people of Boston, a city I love and cherish.  One second the footage was of victory and triumph and the second the screen was filled with people running, panicking, and offering to help.  And then you hear the screaming, the same screaming you hear in the movies or on the TV of imagine when you read about it in a book. However, this wasn't a different life or world, this was my world, my city, and people I might know.  It made it so much scarier, terrifying, and heartbreaking.

I'm still reeling and and so confused as to why anyone would want to do that to innocent people who wanted nothing more than to cross the finish line with their friends and family cheering and congratulating them after running 26 miles. Part of me feels like this is just another scene in a book I've read and that it hasn't really happened, but I know that isn't true.  My heart goes out to all of those who were injured, killed, scarred, and affected by yesterday's tragedy.  I am thinking of all of you.