09 February 2009

Two kids


It's not often I watch the news with tears running down my face.

I'd been planning my afternoon just so that I could watch the news. I don't usually get to see it because of the dinner-bath-bed fiasco that is going on at the same time. But I made and served dinner for the children just before 6:00pm and sat down to watch.

Then it started. "Mum! MUM! I'm still hungry! MU-U-U-UM!!!"

And: "Muh-Mee! Muh-MEEE!!!" Desperate to get down from her highchair.

After planning dinner just so that I could watch the news and have a quiet cry, it seemed unfair. I considered getting mad.

Then this man came on the news and said, "I lost two kids mate. And nothin' will bring them back."

So I didn't get mad.

16 comments:

tinsenpup said...

I often think we need a special vocabulary that we save just for times like these, because words like 'horrible' and 'tragedy' and 'devastation' are rendered toothless in the enormity of this, but in the end, it's the simplest statements that sum it up best. Like 'I lost two kids mate. And nothin' will bring them back.', delivered so calmly, it sent a chill down my spine, as if that father had stumbled into whatever lies beyond complete loss.

Sassy Britches said...

Wow. It sure brings it all home, doesn't it?

CynthiaK said...

Just awful. We've been watching coverage it way up here in Canada and Mother Nature is really having her way with Australia these days, isn't she?

It's heartwrenching to watch the news clips of those who have lost everything they own, or worse, people they love.

I'm going to hug my children right now.

And, thanks for the comments about Suvi's spelling. They made me smile.

Anonymous said...

I just read that there is some speculation some of these fires may have been set by arsonists. What is our world coming to?

Nana Tantrum

Anonymous said...

I just read that there is some speculation some of these fires may have been set by arsonists. What is our world coming to?

Nana Tantrum

GreenJello said...

Hug them tight.

Perspective is everything, isn't it?

Jen said...

How terrible!

Elisa @ Globetrotting in Heels said...

OMG. "Count your blessings" just took a whole new meaning.

♥ Boomer ♥ said...

It's just an absolutely horrible thing to believe that anyone would cause that much death and destruction by lighting fires. I am so sorry and so afraid for Australians in the nearby regions where fires have been set.

Yes, love those kiddos.

Miss Moo said...

I did the same thing over the past couple of nights. In our local paper we read about the whingers who well whinge about the pot holes (and yes some are big enough to get lost in) because after the flooding we do get lots but I just want to scream at them for being so selfish and inconsiderate. One: Ingham, Normanton, Isa and Kurumba were worse off than us and secondly, How many people have lost their homes, livestock, possessions and most tragically, their lives and those of their familes and friends.
I guess I wish we would stop being selfish, rejoice in what we have and be thankful and put our hearts out to those who really need it because they have to rebuild their whole lives - sometimes without those they were closest to.

Lindethiel said...

Everytime i turn on the tv i feel like crying.

And the thought that they were deliberately lit is more than i can fathom.

Makes me cherish the people in my life more and more everytday.

Swift Jan said...

After a staement like that, you just cant stay mad at them.
I was glued to the tv last night.

Allegro ma non troppo said...

Seems to me that ANY time I watch the news, I cry. I stick to the newspaper so that I can limit the awful pictures and soundbytes that would rattle my head.

I just can't believe that this is happening in my country.

Alison said...

Give them extra hugs. As my dad always says when he hears about someone who's really suffering, "I don't have any problems."

Givinya De Elba said...

Well, to be perfectly honest, this hasn't minimised my own problems, it's just that the reality of my own problems increases my understanding of these other disasters to the point where I really feel it - deeply.

Nauntie Lush said...

It does put things into perspective. This is HORRIBLE and I hope that they catch the NUTTER that did this and string them up where everyone can see. Or maybe they could set him on fire. People should not kill babies like that! (It is good I am a 42 day kayak trip away...because I am ready to hunt them down like the dog they are and whoop some butt!)