What happened less than two weeks ago in Hopkinton is
a tragedy of such breadth and scope it is almost unimaginable. A house
explodes; families lose their home and all their earthly possessions, and
one family Tara and Heath Carey lose both of their little girls - their
babies, their angels. Unbelievable, incomprehensible, a living hell. What
words are there to express the loss of the Carey and Germain families?
It is impossible to conceive of the pain the families are enduring from
the loss of their two beautiful children, Violet and Iris. There isn't a
person around who has heard of the atrocity and has tried to make some sense
of it. It is a horror that holds no reasoning; no earthly sense can be made
of this. Yet, we all try to find an answer why some were spared and these
two children had to die.
There seems to have been so much tragedy in the world recently. Losses
and changes in our feeling of safety have become more expected when we turn
to read or watch the news. This story however has stopped everyone cold.
I was taking a course at the Hopkinton Middle School that week. I was
listening to the news and heard of the accident as I sipped my coffee and
rushed to dress. Had I looked at the television, I would have realized it
was someone I knew. I teach in Hopkinton, so I listened to the names to see
if it were any of my students. Immediately, I said a prayer and was on my
way.
The explosion was the topic of the discussion of everyone taking the
course. Everyone expressed horror and sorrow. It would not be until that
evening when I received a call from a friend, that I knew that the children
who perished were the granddaughters of Cindy Germain. That night I watched
the news in tears as I saw Tara, the girls' mother in grieving anguish.
The papers report the way people have reacted to this couple's loss and
the families whose home was lost. The outpouring and generosity of countless
people has been overwhelming. Funds have been set up to aid the families in
material mending. A sort of living memorial is set up at the accident sight
for Iris and Violet. Children have come forth with flowers and dolls and
stuffed animals. People of the communities of Milford and Hopkinton have
stepped generously forward to try to show a gesture of love, concern,
empathy, and kindness. Most of all, people are praying for the families.
This seems the only action that is available.
Iris and Violet, at their young age, already seemed to know that the only
thing that really matters is our love and kindness. When interviewed, their
mother, Tara, said, "They were always so loving, always telling you
they loved you."
It is love and the simple kindnesses of people that make the world
bearable, when there are no answers to be found for our "How can they
be gone?" Life is omplex with much devastation and sadness. In the end
we still cling to one another and look for some reasons for the heartache.
Robert Lewis Stevenson said, "It is the history of our kindnesses that
make this world tolerable. If it were not for that, for the effect of kind
words, kind looks, kind letters... I should be inclined to think our life a
practical jest in the worst possible spirit."
Maryellen K. Grady can be reached at mkgrady@attbi.com
