Don't Forget the Boston Marathon Tragedy and a Whole Lot of Others

The problem with our fast moving world is that yesterday’s news is yesterday’s news.  Bill Clinton knew
that. Mark Sanford knew that. Elliot Spitzer and Anthony Weiner and Paula Deen are hoping it will be so. There’s always another crisis or titillating story out there that turns our attention away from what we are reading or seeing on TV. Months from now someone will say: “Trayvon who?” Our attention span is mighty short these days. It makes me wonder if we are learning any lessons from any of these fast moving headlines.

One story we don’t need to forget is the Boston Marathon tragedy. The heartbreak and the misery that terrible event caused will be with a whole lot of folk for a long time to come. We shouldn’t forget some events that happen. On the anniversary of the Boston bombing there will be speeches and balloons and flags and maybe even a parade. But back there on the side streets and away from town in some house or apartment someone is still trying to get their lives back together. Many lost limbs and eyes and hearing and a great number have found their lives altered in tragic ways forever.

I challenge you to read Tim Rohan’s splendid story about one of the Boston Marathon survivors. Jeff Bauman was waiting for his girlfriend to finish the race and he stood close to the finish line to catch her excitement as she ran across that last stretch. But this young man—hale and hearty lost both of his legs, much of his hearing. I thank The New York Times for giving about five pages in their Monday paper to this story. Read it and weep. Read it and remember. It is a story of courage and determination against incredible odds. And behind that story are a multitude of others we should never forget. You might want to see the video and additional pictures of Jeff Bauman as he struggles to recover. Online: nytimes.com/sports  

(The moving photograph above looks almost cruciform in its shape. It is one of many pictures you can find in this story.)