Gray Saturday

When I heard of the terrorist attacks in Mumbai my initial selfish reaction was to thank God that my sister-in-law and mother-in-law were "safely" in the U.S. Then the reality of everyone else's families hit...brothers, sisters, friends, in-laws and friends that I don't know but I realize it could as easily be my grief and personal horror.

But life goes on, Thursday we celebrated Thanksgiving much like most families. Maybe most didn't enjoy our nutloaf and kale salad...but other special treats like our sweet potatoes and gravy were found everywhere.

Friday we stayed in. Moving furniture and cleaning the carpet was the highlight. You might call it pre-Advent preparations. Little Sprout calls it, "Can we get out the tree and decorations yet?"

Now it is Saturday, a bare tree is present in the living room, awaiting permission to be decorated. We've got weeks, but I suspect the pleading will continue until every last ornament is placed perfectly...probably sometime later today.

I sit here at my computer reading about the Black Friday death of a Walmart employee. It's not the death so much that disturbs me as the callous reactions by people who stepped over his body and angrily refused to quit shopping.

My sister-in-law "safely" in the U.S. had to work Black Friday. Not in Walmart. Not in New York. But a very popular, very large department store in Boston. My initial selfish reaction is to thank God that she is fine.

Other than my initial selfish reaction, does anyone else see similarities in what happened in these two cities half way round the world from each other?