Virginia Tech Tragedy

As I sat watching this terrible tragedy unfold on television yesterday afternoon and then again today I was glad that my sister Kimberly decided to go to UVA instead of VT! My heart aches for the families of the victims of this senseless event. Having recently lost my Mother suddenly to the actions of another person I have an idea of how they are feeling.

This afternoon the news media started listing the names of the dead. Several of the students had lived in Fairfax County, VA, where I had lived for a number of years when I was growing up.. I also noticed that one of the students who lost his life, Ross Abdallah Alameddine, was from Saugus, MA. Another, Daniel O'Neil, was from Lincoln, RI. Both within an hour of where I live now so their stories are in the paper and on the local news. Then, sadly, I came across the following paragraph on MSNBC.com:

Maxine Turner, from Vienna, Va., a senior majoring in chemical engineering.
Elizabeth Tracz posted to MSNBC.com that she had been a classmate of
Turner's at James Madison High School in Vienna. "She was at the top of our
class and did really well in school ... Vienna is a very close, tight-knit
community and I know those from our graduating class of 2003 and all other JMHS
students past and present are grieving from this tragic loss of life."

I am a JMHS graduate, having graduated in 1981. I lived in Vienna, VA for 4 years before moving up to Massachusetts.

Watching events unfold on the television you can get a bit detached since violence on tv tends to make us a bit numb to actual violence. Finding a connection, no matter how small, can make it very real. My sincere sympathy goes out to the families and friends of the victims.

Crossing Jordan: Jordan has Meningioma Surgery Tonight

Tonight on the NBC TV show "Crossing Jordan" the main character, Jordan goes to the hospital to undergo risky brain surgery....for a meningioma! This episode is on NBC at 9pm. You can find more info on the show HERE

NBC channel WHDH in Boston just had a brief spot on the 4:30pm news that mentioned the program tonight and also had an interview with Dr Black (who did my surgery). They were saying that if you needed surgery for a meningioma the best place in the country was at Brigham and Woman's Hospital. I guess for once I got lucky! :-)

The news said you could find a link to the segment on their website, but all I have found so far is a link to the Brain Science Foundation (which is great to increase awareness). Here is a blurb I found on that site:

"Dr. Peter Black on NBC! The Brain Science Foundation is excited to announce that NBC affiliate, Channel 7 in Boston, has interviewed Dr. Peter Black for comments on the NBC hit show, Crossing Jordan, whose main character has a meningioma. "