They say that a picture is worth a thousand words, but in this case, I cannot say that it is true. I won’t bore you with 2000 words, but I will tell you that these pictures don’t even begin to show the magnitude of what happened last Wednesday at 6:06pm in Minneapolis.
I don’t know what it is in us as human beings that makes us drawn to these sorts of things, but often we are. After 9/11, I felt, and still feel, a need to go to Ground Zero. I hope to someday go to New York and Ground Zero. It was similar, for me, after the Oklahoma City bombing, too. Maybe it is the nurse in me or maybe it is something darker. I choose to believe that it is the caretaker part of my personality.
Whatever the case, last night, I asked Jason to take me to see the bridge. I felt drawn to it from the beginning. I needed to see it. I have traveled that bridge an unfathomable amount of times. I have traveled that bridge as a child and as an adult. I have traveled it for happy things, like Twins and Vikings games and for sad things, like going to see my friend Amy in the hospital before she died. I needed to see it.
We could not get very close to it. Much of the area is blocked off with police tape. There are several places that you are allowed to view it, but it is hard to see with a naked eye. I wish that I could have photographed through the binoculars that my Mom brought. What you could see through them was unbelievable.
Walking up to the walking bridge where you could look at the collapsed bridge, there were a few spots designated as memorial spots. At one (seen below) there was a string of flags strung all around the trees. There was a poster that said something like, “When I lived in Tibet, if there was someone who died, people would hang up a bunch of flags and every time the flags flapped in the wind, a prayer was sent up for the deceased. Please use these pens to write a prayer or a thought on the pennants for the victims of this tragedy.” And there were 2 permanent markers nearby. I don’t think that there was a single flag that didn’t have something written on it.
It is so amazing to me, after seeing first hand the immensity of what happened, that more people weren’t killed. I know some people don’t believe in the presence of a higher power, but I do and I believe that God had His hand in preventing this from being much worse. Somehow, I know, He did.
As of right now, there are 6 confirmed dead. There are at least 8 missing, but they think that there may be more that haven’t been reported as of yet. The last number I heard regarding people who had been treated for injuries related to the accident was 86 and five of those were in critical condition. Those numbers seem, thankfully, low. It is just incredible that it wasn’t much worse as far as loss of life. Especially when you see it first hand.
I have very many thoughts and feelings about this whole thing running around inside my heart and brain. I am so thankful that I don’t think I knew anyone who was directly affected by this and yet, I still feel a sadness about it. I guess I am still trying to digest it all and it will take time. Like everything else, it just takes time.
when I got home from the lake, this was in my email as a news alert and for a minute my heart stopped , worried that it had affected you.
I was never so happy to come to a blog and see an update in my life!
also. my AS word is ALIVE
I have to tell you Shelli when I watched this on the news I thought of you b/c I knew you lived there. Such a horrible tragedy…my Mother watched it on CNN and cried. Its just so sad.
I agree with you Shelli. God’s still in control of everything, no matter what they say.
I understand the need to view these things for oneself, sort of like a way of paying homage.
Accidents happen, but this one was preventable. If they’d just corrected the safety violations, nobody would have been killed or injured. When it played on the news here it was like someone punched me in the stomach. Bridges always seemed to substantial and safe to me.
I know exactly what you mean about needing to see it. I was at Ground Zero a week after 9/11 and visited it again the last time I was in the city. It makes it real somehow…
Shelli , I am SO GLAD!!!!! that you are alright. I thought of you and worried that you might be involved. This was a terrible thing that happened and I’m so sad for the people left behind trying to mend. I pray for peace and comfort for them….
Hugs and I wish you well….
Peace! @};-
Blue–We were all okay. Thanks for your concern. How goosebumpy is it that you got Alive as an AS word?
Catch–It is very sad. But it is also heartwarming to hear all the tales of survival and heroism.
MT–It may be cliche, but Amen!
Fab–Exactly! I couldn’t put a word to it, but that is exactly how I feel. I felt like I needed to pay my respects to those who perished and their loved ones, to those who survived and to those who are yet to be found.
Kat–I am not sure who to blame yet. I know that in the next months or even over the next year, there will be an answer to that question. Right now it is still a feeling of numbness.
Finn–Really? I didn’t know that.
Judy–From your lips to God’s ears. From all of ours, I think. Thanks.
I 110% agree with you that God had his hand on what happened that day, preventing it from being much worse. I’m sure there will be stories that start to circulate from those who were apart of it. Last minute errands that kept them from getting to that spot, where they normally would be at that time… and so on. Kind of like 911, you know?
Good news that you are well, Shelli. I had no idea you live there. What a terrible tragedy, a horrible thing, but I also stand in awe to see so few died that day. I had expected the number to be much, much higher.
I live a few miles from the 9/11 site, and though it no longer resembles the pre-9/11 site, nor the wasteland created by the fall of the WTC towers, I go there every once in a while to make sure I never forget what happened there. I think you’ll find yourself doing the same thing over time.
Again, glad you are well. Hugs!