Last Night's Edition

Comfortably curled up, after a tiring day, I'm sipping my decaf, like I quite often do While reading the evening news, My after dinner ritual, like feeding the dog, and wiping down the counter, after dishes have been washed.. Last night...why should this time have be any different? The stories I read, the politics, the current events, the tragedy.. Yes daily tragedies that happen every day, in every town... I can't think about them all...I can't weep for each and every one... Oh yes....I can care, ...and I can feel sorrow.. .... But I can't, ......I just can't, make them my own... But last night I did.... Last night, just reading these two paragraphs black and white, a mother's plight the account of a tragic tale... This one landed, here on my doorstep A headline in my small town Brought to life, how one instant can change it all.... How this fine young family who lives in our town Took a carefree day's outing, a picnic..and a hike In the most beautiful place in the world Hiking a trail in the grandeur of our nearby National Park In a fateful moment...a landslide of expected tragedy Could end the life of her little son, injure her young daughter Change a family forever.....why, just a week ago...this was just such sad news... Last night....reading her own words...it became personal. Her child became my child....and today I grieve...... (true event)