family and thanksgiving

I just can't figure out how to talk about Thanksgiving. We attended a lovely vegan Thanksgiving dinner at Ashley's house. And, while we were all enjoying ourselves, one block over, a tragedy was unfolding. Strangely, one of the people at our dinner had been a passerby as everything took place. Madelyn, who had been such godsend during Robb's early recovery, and who is a volunteer for the American Red Cross, was on the scene trying to do something to help out. All of Ashley's guests knew something was going on, because the police had a large portion of the neighborhood blocked off, and there were dozens and dozens of police and emergency workers everywhere.

I really can't sum up what happened without thinking that I sound callous, so I'm going to link to a couple of articles:

click here
or here
or here

I want to say something wise about the bonds of family, both the one we are born into, and the one we make for ourselves, but words really fail me. Perhaps, by admitting that I cannot organize my thoughts on this matter, I can stop trying to find the words, and simply mourn for this family.