Sometimes it’s hard to reconcile, or even understand, how things like this are allowed to happen. It would be easy to become cynical and begin doubting that our lives can be full of hope and happiness when we are reminded at any moment it can all be taken from us; without cause and without mercy.
Our oldest son, Brandon, is a senior at the University of Kansas, a campus very similar to Virginia Tech. Before this event, it never occurred to me or Mary Beth we needed to be concerned with his safety.
Of course we worry about his grades, is he eating well, and is he taking care of himself, but we never imagined being worried about any thing on this scale. Unfortunately events similar to this one will happen again. It would be naive to think otherwise. A gift we all have is free will. Some exert their will to make very constructive and positive contributions. Others use their free will in more selfish and terrifying ways.
Like everything else in our lives, free will, and how to use it, is a choice. We can choose to go forward in spite of our setbacks and disappointments or we can succumb to our fears and insecurities. How I live this day, and the day after that, is my choice.
I’m sure we will see Brandon this weekend. When we do, we will hug him very tight.
April 18th, 2008 at 11:29 am
Being a parent is not always easy Alex
Hugs,
Lorraine
May 2nd, 2008 at 2:06 pm
I had a son in the USMC. He seldom wrote. Then, just as Kosovo was heating up, he stopped writing altogether for about 18 months.
(darkness)
You have to let them walk their own walk and trust that they are as capable as you were. You survived. Have confidence that they will too.
He wrote again from Korea. And later, after discharge and in person, had some tales to tell.