Trying to Make Sense of the Senseless

Dyson didn’t know why I came home a little earlier today. He had no idea about what happened in Connecticut or why I was holding him so tightly. I didn’t want to explain it to him.

I want so much to protect him from the bad, from the things that would hurt him. But the events of today show that sometimes, you just can’t. I want to think that if we passed the right laws, had better mental health support, listened to the right experts … I want to think that somehow we could guarantee that this would never happen again. And I want to think that as a society, we can work towards making this a better place. But in the end, you can’t make it perfect.

In the end, you can’t do anything about the basic fragility of life. Maybe that just makes it that much more precious. We are already so very lucky to even be alive, to have this chance to experience life. Maybe the best we can hope for is to appreciate the brief moment we have in it.

This picture was from a few weeks ago, when I took Dyson into San Francisco. We had lunch on the top floor of the mall. We bought some toys for his cousins. We saw the lights on the domed roof. He fell asleep on the train ride home. It was a good day.

4 Responses to “Trying to Make Sense of the Senseless”

  1. Si Says:

    I know what you mean.
    I get most anxious about the future when I see something as benign as teenagers just messing about, swearing, being a bit rowdy – what we call “anti-social behaviour”. Because I know I can’t protect my two precious children forever. They’re going to grow up. They’re going to mix with other kids I wouldn’t choose them to mix with. They’re going to make mistakes. That’s life, I guess.

    Maybe the two most important things you can teach are:
    – How to survive, by being smart, sensible and cautious.
    – That you’ll always be there to pick up the pieces when things don’t work out.

  2. Mach Says:

    That’s great advice. Thanks.

  3. Elisa Waggoner Says:

    It’s a beautiful picture.

  4. Mach Says:

    Thanks. I was trying to get a shot of Dyson, but it’s tricky trying to get a picture of a kid while he’s sleeping on on your lap so I just took a bunch randomly and this is the one that came out the best.