Tuesday, April 16, 2013

When Words Fail Us

As a writer, my stock in trade is words.  Like a carpenter uses a hammer, drill, tape measure, and screw drivers, my tools are words.  But times like this are when I find that words are just not sufficient sometimes.  As I watched the aftermath of the bombings at the Boston Marathon, I was texting with a good friend who once lived in Boston and is a fellow runner.  We shared those extra connections to the event.  We both tried to express just how stunned and horrified we were by what was unfolding before our eyes, but there simply weren't words to fully describe the boiling cauldron of emotions we felt.

The one thing that could have been sufficient was simply impossible.  All I could think of was how badly I wished we were in the same room experiencing this because I longed to have that physical connection.  I just really needed to hug her.

And I have also found that, though this is probably a cliche, I really need to express to the people I love just how much they mean to me.  I don't want to feel like there is something I want to say to someone that I have waited too long to say.  It feels more true than it has ever been in my lifetime that we literally have no idea when our last moment is coming, or when the last time we saw a loved one will actually be the last time.

So if you are reading this and are a loved one, please know that I love you and you should expect to hear that and be hugged as soon as I can arrange it.  

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