Manchester

I read the news today about the bombing of the Manchester Arena and my heart broke for the parents and families.  I read about the casualties and wondered how those police and ambulance people would cope with dealing with that awful tragedy.  I thought how sad that a concert that should have been a safe place for young teens was targeted and how so many would be changed by this experience.  I also read of the ordinary people of Manchester doing what good people do everywhere - offering rooms to stay for the stranded, offering a meal, a safe place, somewhere to charge their phones, lifts, blood donations, opening nearby cafes and hotels to take in the shocked survivors, what good people do in hard times.

Dreadful things happen, whether it's a natural disaster like the earthquake in Turkey which had Israeli search and rescue teams helping out or whether it's man made like the dreadful events in Manchester which has led to the rush of support from local people in the moment and prayers and support from around the world.  Always, in the bad, if you look you can see all the good people who step up and pitch in and do the right thing regardless.  I utterly condemn those that would do such dreadful things.  I give thanks for the vastly greater number of good people who keep the world turning.

The Red Rose of Lancashire and Manchester, from WikiCommons, taken by Laitche, used under the Creative Commons Agreement and as a very small candle of rememberance after such awful news