I've traveled across this bridge probably one thousand times in the ten years I lived in Minneapolis or passed through there on my way somewhere.  So, last night when mom called to tell me to turn on the news, that the bridge had collapsed during rush hour, I was set back imagining how horrible it all must be.  How familiar the area is to me.  How many times I've been in that exact place.

Last night was the first time I've watched breaking news with my kids.  This meant carefully scanning the news for things that might be too scary, having to describe everything that we could see, trying to explain that this was the kind of thing that was rare.  Needing to explain what the word rare meant in words that they'd understand.

We laid in bed watching the news, Martin on my left, Sophie on my right - both of them talking at the same time for at least an hour.  Martin asking about why that car was tipped over and about how that bus could stay in place and where were all the kids.  Sophie asking if I ever fell off a bridge, if I ever fell on the road, telling me that she's fallen out of her bed.

 

I thought a lot about whether or not it was something we should be watching.  They're small - if they understood what was happening it would all be kind of scary.  But, scary things do happen, and in the case of something so unusual maybe watching it to better understand it might not be such a bad idea. 

As the news continued past their bedtime I found myself still watching it.  Seeing the same images over and over, the same continuous feed of discussions that had no answers.  People trying not to speculate, but speculating anyway then following it up with discussions about why they don't want to speculate.  And this morning when I woke up, still continuous coverage on practically every channel except Cartoon Network, I found myself watching it again.  I am inextricably drawn to watch dramatic news unfold, even when nothing is unfolding.  Much like when I could barely tear myself away from watching the entire OJ trial on CourtTV.  It wasn't that it was that riveting, it wasn't that I was afraid to miss something, it's just that it was so AVAILABLE.

So today, although I cannot stop thinking about the bridge and my friends that drive over it every day to work and home and all the people that are affected directly and indirectly, I'm going to stop watching the constant coverage.  And just think about how lucky I am.