I'm Studying You

The odds can fail you.

Studyees, please observe a moment of silence.

Western New York is a resilient community. It is many things, but all in all, we are bonded by our snow, culture, sports teams, and now, tragedy.

Last Thursday, in the quiet community of Clarence, NY, Continental flight 3407 suffered many ice-related mishaps and crashed into a home, killing all 49 passengers and crew, plus one person in the house itself. The other two people in the house managed to escape their blazing domicile.

We forge on, trying to live our day-to-days, but very few have not been affected by this unfortunate turn of events.

I personally did not know anyone that perished in this accident, which happened less than 20 minutes from my place in Depew and Jess' place in Lancaster. But the husband of Jess' son's homeroom and English teacher last year was on that flight.

Kåre Enga in Udon Thani knew someone on that same flight; a cantor at a Jewish center. Also on that flight was a woman who lost someone during 9/11, had met Pres. Obama and was an advocate for victims of that tragedy.

Alex (J's youngest son) flew out last Tuesday to see his grandparents in Florida. J was that mom, scared to let her baby go on his own. She feared the worst, and I calmed her down and said he'd be ok. And he was, annoying us with pics of sunshine while we slept through morning snow/rain mixes and dreaded waking up and having to travel through that muck. And while she was not in a panic dropping him off at the airport, I can only imagine her fear as the weather is scheduled to turn ugly tomorrow upon his arrival.

But he doesn't know what has happened here.

Meanwhile, while it is good to see the whole community come together, it is sad that it takes a tragedy for it to actually happen.

I encourage you all to check out www.Buffalonews.com to gather all the info you can about this terrible happening. Also go to www.wgrz.com for what seems to be the most comprehensive local media coverage.

The tail of the plane is still stuck in the house it took out. These people, and the surrounding families, as well as those smacked in the face with tragedy, need help. In something that seems so unlikely and something no one can prepare for, please, consider them in your thoughts. This event will not wreck this WNY Community, but make it stronger.

It was less than 20 minutes away from me. The probability that it could happen is so low...but it happened.

Oh and on a personal note, my sis had her cancerous thyroid removed, and is attacking that bastard with humor. She sent me a pic entitled "Smile!" which was just a shot of her neck with the sewn-up incision (in the shape of a smile), and that freaked me out. She seems to be doing well, but it added to my fears and my anxieties and didn't help me focus on my priorities one bit. I appreciated it, but with so much other stuff going on that Valentine's day, and my being helpless and not being a part of anything my "family" is doing after the fire that sorta crippled my bro and stepmom's lives, I am so outside of their box that my compassion seems pointless. I've become an afterthought. Sickening the way I had to hear about it. But that's for me to bury and use to make a better life for me.