It's always weird when things like this happen, particularly if they happen on the other side of the country.  I sort of thought, "Well, no one around here has been deeply affected."  I was wrong, so very, very wrong.

A few days ago I learned the name of one of the 32 victims.  Her name is Leslie Sherman.  She was a student of history and international studies.  She and I could have been friends.  Her grandparents, as well as several aunts and uncles, live in the Tri-Cities.  Our town has been touched deeply by something that happened on the otherside of the country.  She even came here on her spring break last month.

It seemed like a world away when it happened, but now I know the truth.  NOTHING is ever a world away.

Read the article from our local newspaper here.