~ Minnesapolis Bridge Falls Down ~

At 6:05pm a major bridge in Minneapolis collapsed into the Mississippi River. It happened by St. Anthony's Lock not far from the U of M campus. You can get the story here. This is very surreal. Just imagine driving along minding you own business and the ground disappears from underneath your car. I can't even wrap my head around it.

Through this tragedy there have been stories of heroism that were performed by survivors towards those in their same predicament. A school bus containing 60 children where rescued to safety by other survivors. In this crisis, surrounded by shock and fear, everyday people courageously stepped up and became heroes to those around them. This is awe inspiring to me. How many of us could honestly say that we would be able to do the same once we were in that situation? I think we all would like to say that we would step up but unfortunately, reality is fickle and often leads us to do the exact opposite. So, to the everyday heroes I say Thank you. Thank-you for showing all of us what the human spirit is capable of amid such chaos. Thank-you for stepping up in spite of your own fear, shock and confusion to illuminate the true meaning of courage.

I am sure that more fatalities will be found over time. To all the families that have lost a loved one, You have my deepest condolences. May you have the support you need to help you through your grieving process. I hope you know that today we all grieve with you.

In the days and weeks to come not only will more families grieve for the dead but also for the survivors. We can not forget that the Survivors have an immense psychological trauma to deal with and work through. Lets us all extend to them the same compassion and support that we extend to those who have lost someone.

Let us not jump to pointing fingers of blame at this time without all the facts being in. Let us refrain from turning this into an "Us" vs "Them" political agenda. For these victims and their families deserve to not have their trauma and pain trivialized. Lets allow them to morn their loss in peace and the survivors time to exhale. There will be plenty of time to point fingers once the investigation is over and for each political party to turn on each other in the months to come.