I can’t even start to imagine what you went through. What if nature hadn’t called and you were still in the onboard line to the bus? What if you had not rushed out that morning and were on time and in front of the line? I believe there is a higher being that guides us in life. Sometimes it’s a nudge to go left instead of right. Or an inkling to go back, to not go any further.

In my youth, my friends and I would go to a “hidden” lake overgrown with lotus flowers. Lotus flowers are not common and the most beautiful flower was in the middle of the lake. We wanted to swim to it but something held us all back. The next day, an older cousin who had no idea we were going to this lake told us she had a dream from her deceased mom. Her spirit told my cousins about a lake with beautiful flowers in the middle. She said there are “hands” reaching up from the deep in the water to pull swimmers under. Warned us to never go back there to swim. We took the warning to heart because my cousin shouldn’t have known about the lake but described it. It still gives me the chills thinking about it.

It was a scary memory but nothing along the lines you went through.

I am so sorry about the senseless violence in your country and everywhere else really. Sorry that you had to witness the horrors that day. My best wishes to you. May you continue to find love and beauty in a world that can sometimes be dark.