What do we do when there’s more bad news than our senses can process? This month’s reports about the slaying of Marlen Ochoa-Lopez gave us another chance to find out, not that anyone has an answer.
Even as a retiree old enough to have seen a thing or two, I’m reminded almost weekly about the sheltered life I’ve led. It’s not so much because of Nobel Prize winners years younger than me, or the endless YouTube child prodigies in sports, math and everything else I’m not good at. It’s because of those who grieve.
If there’s a silver lining to dismal headlines, it’s the daily dose of perspective the news provides.
Many of us first encounter grief when a grandparent dies, usually by our high school years. Along the way we pay a courtesy funeral visit for a parent’s co-worker or friend. By 45, some have lost a parent.
Then there are side tragedies: a neighbor passes unexpectedly, a classmate dies in a prom night car accident or a fellow student’s father has a fatal heart attack.
How would I have responded to losing a parent at age 16? I’ll never know, but someone else’s loss sure made me think about it.
Everyone has their own definition of grief. Headlines remind us that grief isn’t confined to Chicagoland or the U.S.
After 9/11, one of the reported Israeli opinions on the attacks was that while tragic, maybe Americans would now better understand Israel’s own daily struggle with terrorism. That seemingly kick-us-when-we’re-down reaction made me angry, then frustrated. Angry because my perception of Israel’s attitude was misguided, and frustrated because I knew Israelis had a point.
Buffeted by oceans on both sides and non-hostile neighbors to the north and south, how could most Americans possibly understand Israel’s surrounding threats?
What must it be like in Yemen or Syria where losing multiple friends and family members is almost commonplace?
Perspective is useful in helping us figure out how to limit senseless violence. Of course, it’s not nearly enough, but it’s a start.
— James Newton, Itasca