Aftermath

The pictures and stories in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy are pretty terrible.  Not like the horror of Hurricane Katrina, but still so very sad.  To my knowledge, all our friends and family are safe, thank God.

I cannot get this picture from the New York Times out of my head (I wish I could get the image to paste here but I cannot).  Of course, the fact that she's a three year old girl making the kind of terrified, angry, overwhelmed face my three year old makes causes the picture to really strike my heart.  I cried when I saw it because it illustrates so completely the thread by which our lives can hang.  My three year old can't swim.  Could this girl?  How bad was the flood?  How close was it before she was rescued?  

When I was pregnant with Grace that plane made its emergency landing into the Hudson River.  I recall being riveted because 1) finally a plane crash with a happy ending (maybe I should pay attention to the safety videos and learn about flotation devices after all) and 2) I couldn't get out of my head the mental image of trying to keep my head above water while also trying to keep an infant or young child's head above water in such a situation.  It's amazing everyone survived that incident but I couldn't stop thinking what if I was onboard with a baby?  Would it be possible to get a baby out before the water level got too high?  

We are all at the mercy of so many twists of fate, and I read all the horror stories with my heart in my throat and "there but for the grace of God" on my lips.  Picturing all these scenarios with one's child in mind makes the vulnerability all too palpable.  

Hug your loved ones extra tight tonight.  I'm thinking of you all.