The events in Boston this week left a lingering dull ache in my heart. When I learned of the Chinese parents who lost their only child, I settled into a deep sadness. I keep asking, why? I know there are no answers to these senseless acts of violence. I sit in silence. No words provide a balm to help soothe the restlessness and anxiety I feel over this week’s events. When I am in this state, I often look to the words of others. This quote by Mahatma Gandhi, provided me with some solace. I hope you find some peace in his words, too.
“When I despair, I remember that all through history, the way of truth and love has always won. There have been tyrants and murderers and for a time they seem invincible but in the end they always fall. Think of it. Always.”
– Mahatma Gandhi
* A special thanks to my friend, Kristie, for directing me to this quote.
Welcome! I am a lawyer turned freelance writer, essayist, and editor. On staff at Literary Mama and the co-founder and co-editor of the literary journal, The Sunlight Press, my essays and reported work have appeared in The Washington Post, The Lily, Saveur, Civil Eats, Brain, Child, ESPN and elsewhere. I am currently at work on a memoir on grief and culture and how it provides perspective on life’s ordinary graces. I invite you to appreciate the ordinary with me. I hope my daily practice of seeing the magic in the mundane helps you celebrate and find more of these moments in your life too.
So timely, this post. I am reading this just after they have apprehended the second suspect. It is tragic that any of this ever happened at all, but it did and ultimately good prevailed.
I wonder how we will all feel from this point on, given the turn in events. I heard a man interviewed in Watertown, and he said that going through the lockdown today was a re-traumatization of Monday (he had been 20 yards from the bomb site on Monday and today, just a few houses down from where the suspect was captured). So much for everyone to process.
Thank you for such a beautiful quote.
Whenever I feel a deep sadness or can’t quite put the answer to an un-asked, unknown question that is lurking below the surface, I often quote a good friend – “Thinks have a funny way of working out.”
For these Chinese parents who have lost their only child, I have no words for them. But maybe later their story will be a source of solace for other parents who lose their only children.
Did things work out? Maybe for some… But if nothing else happened this week, we saw how law enforcement mobilized when it became important enough. Can the people of Boston and environs sleep better? Maybe not for a while. Can the people of the US sleep better. Maybe we shouldn’t. But the funny thing that “worked out” – It woke the country up to the one thing that history has taught us… “Anybody can be killed at anytime, IF a malcontent individual puts his mind to it.” So, I say to you…Wake up America. The time for sleeping is over. It’s time to be more Vigilant.
Great quote. This week has been a difficult one for so many. I’ve been glued to the television watching it all and feeling an extra special connection since my son and his girlfriend live there. Crazy enough he was treating the injured and later on in the week they brought the first terrorist into his ER and the ER team was doing everything possible to save him. My thoughts and prayers are with the families of the victims and with the injured, they have a long road ahead. I hope you feel better dear Rudri. Xo
I still can’t process it. I can’t process the violence. I can’t understand the underlying hatred or indifference or absence of some fundamental element of humanity. I cannot reconcile the face of that 19-year old with these unspeakable acts.
I take heart at the extraordinary heroism. Like you, I don’t understand how these families will ever move forward.
That is a wonderful quote.