Tonight's picture was taken in June of 2009. I recently found this photo through the blog. I no longer had it in our electronic files. So thankfully we have the blog as a resource, so that I can download and file any missing photos taken during Mattie cancer battle. In this particular photo you can see what our living room looked it. Piled with toys, hospital equipment everywhere, and tons of Legos. In fact after Mattie died, we realized we had tens of thousands of Lego bricks! One of our friends gave Mattie some inflatable space aliens, and as you can see Mattie had these green fellows spread out all over our rug. Despite how ill and debilitated Mattie was, he still found the energy to play.
Quote of the day: "We only had one child," they said. "We just don't know what to do. ~ Parents of 23 year old Jordan McIldoon (who died yesterday in the Las Vegas Massacre)
I think when you have experienced a tragic loss of your own, you become very hyper sensitive to other losses. If today did not make every American pause, then I am not sure what to say. It is terribly disheartening to hear of the trauma 22,000 people experienced at a concert on Sunday night in Las Vegas. Just like with 9/11, this tragedy will forever change security at all outdoor and large events. What we saw unfolding before our eyes on TV today sounded more like a crime drama show than real life, because it is hard to fathom why someone would purchase massive amounts of ammunition and automatic weapons to cause massive causalities and panic for no apparent reason. What is happening to the world and our society?
In the midst of this nightmare, social media was out of control today. Within hours, Internet trolls and pranksters began churning out hoaxes, misinformation and lame jokes aimed at misleading the public, promoting their own platforms and laughing in the wake of tragedy. I read an article about the purposeful misinformation that people were tweeting about on Twitter and posting on Facebook. I am glad that Facebook and Twitter suspended these accounts today, but only after the damage was done. People used this tragic event to drive business to their websites and instagram accounts. Many of these postings claimed that a loved one of theirs was missing in Las Vegas and asked for people to help them on social media. It turns out these were false reports with photos of people no where near Las Vegas. Just egregious.
Since Mattie died, I have a thing about being in a confined space with a large group of people. So I am naturally not drawn to concerts, ball games, theatres, and the list goes on. I know many people always laughed at me about this, but today just confirms my fears. As one NYC detective said on TV today, what happened in Vegas could not have been avoided. Which is scary! Clearly today's event was very premeditated, planned, and executed down to a science. Even with how the perpetrator killed himself. In such massive panic, it is impossible for police and security to help innocent participants. So what do you do? I heard one person on the radio today explain that he never travels anywhere without having portable tourniquets in tow. He carries four, one for each limb at all times because he never knows what crisis will arise in a given day. I would expect this reasoning from a military person, trained in combat. But this was a regular USA civilian talking on the radio! Just hearing this was frightening because it makes you feel that you aren't physically save doing anything.
It is hard to believe that so far 59 people are dead and over 500 are injured and hospitalized. As I was hearing interviews with people who survived this massacre all day, I was overwhelmed by many of the ordinary concert goers who performed the extraordinary. I still can picture this young man talking to a reporter this morning, without his shirt on! He was shirt less because he used his clothes to bandage people and in some cases cover the eyes of those who died around him. He wasn't a trained responder or health care provider, just a concerned and brave citizen, who saw people needed help and rose to the occasion. This may not sound special, but it really is! In a crisis situation that involves life and death, the gut instinct we all have is to run and try to protect ourselves. But in many cases, there were concert goers who did not run. Instead, they jumped in to protect, shield, and direct others to safety. On such a dark day, surrounded by forces of evil, what gives me hope is that the true American and human spirit can not be squelched.
1 comment:
Vicki, It is painful to hear that anyone would laugh at you because of your inability & dislike of large group, closed in settings. Painful because people don't seriously consider the why of this fact following Mattie's death.
I watched a lot of news today. I did not hear or see anything about the people who were using this tragedy for their own gain. Glad to know they were shut down by social media.
What I learned once again, watching the aftermath of this terrible shooting is many people are very kind & willing to put themselves in harms way to help others. It gives me hope in human nature because often I loose hope too.
They mentioned several reasons why the shooter did what he did. Clearly, he was a very sick man and I wonder why no one picked up on the extent, he had moved from reality. No one has an arsenal of weapons like he did, if there isn't an enormous problem at his age. Hindsight is 20/20 but if only, this would not have happened.
I also really appreciate your quote because even though their son is 23, loosing him is a tragedy that will stay with them forever.
I am heartsick over this and found myself grateful, you shared your thoughts regarding these shootings. We can't stay holed up and afraid to go out. Today, however, it is becoming increasingly risky to do anything, even attend a concert.
I am glad you posted a Mattie picture with him surrounded by his lego's. It is obvious from this picture & others that you have posted that Mattie loved to play. He would do it no matter if something hurt or was hard to do. Mattie did it!
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