7-8-05 WHAT I HAD TO SAY AFTER THE BOMBINGS

An age of Terrorism. Terrorism. The word makes me sick and twisted. The single most horrible word I've spoken and most horrible action is this part of history. Yet it has become a household word spoken daily by thousands. This is how my age will be remembered. When terrorism hits any corner.

Yesterday at 9:50am, 4 bombs went off in London. 3 tubes were blasted, filled with people during the busy morning commute. Another bomb split a double-decker bus in half, sky rocketing the top half. I was a half mile from that bus. I heard it, felt it, saw my building shake with the explosion. I got off the Tube 30 minutes before the explosion. Terrorism finally hit me. Its surreal. I was numb for hours after I got the news of the stomach-churning actions taking place outside the walls of the university where I was. I choked up and can barely remember calling my house, waking me dad up at 5:30 in the morning to tell him that, before he turns on the TV, I’m ok. There have been bombings in London, one very close to me, two blocks from me, but I’m ok. Sitting in the university for 5 hours before the police let us leave, emailing everyone I know to reassure them I’m ok, getting emails from long-faded friends and being so happy to know they still care. Walking almost 2 hours through the abandoned streets of London to get back to my house with 25 other people that instantaneously became my comfort blanket. I’ve known them 2 weeks and now we have a bond I have with no one else. Watching the news for hours after, watching the death count rise o 25, 37,40,55,90. Waiting with uneven breathe to hear from MSU if they are sending the 350 Spartans in London home on the next flight to Metro Airport in Detroit. Wanting so bad to be on that flight to my family while not wanting to cut short my affair with this city I am learning to love so much. Finally hearing my parent’s voices on the phone – so happy that I’m ok. Hearing Michelle cry on the phone when I talked to her. Getting drunk to blur all my emotions and avoid trying to take any more in. Sleeping. A day I will certainly not soon forget, minute by minute, being caught in the crossfire of a terrorist war I do not understand, in a country I barely know, trying to grasp why they would do this to ordinary people on the street, people I could have been sitting next to on the Tube 20 minutes before their life ended. I still can’t grasp it. I doubt I ever will.