Idealogian

Did we know any of them?

My sister was discussing the tsunami disaster with my niece (almost 7 years old) and nephew (4 1/2). She explained that a lot of people had been killed by the horrible natural disaster. They asked, "Did we know any of them?" My sister said that she didn't think so.

Observed my niece: "But somebody knew them."

For me, that's often the most difficult part of contemplating such tragedies. It is painful to think of all the deaths, which are tragic in their own right. But it is almost unbearable to think of the thousands of parents who now wake every morning with the knowledge that all their children are dead. Or the thousands of children who will never again see their parents and can't understand why. For all the 80,000 dead, somebody who knew them must now live on without them.