On March 22nd I began my day like any ordinary college student would – woke up too late, rushed to get ready for class, and walked into the English building with a lack of sleep and a lot of stress. Unbeknown to me, terrorist attacks were underway at the airport and metro system in Brussels, Belgium, leaving multiple people either dead or injured. I knew nothing of the attacks until my class had ended and I got on the bus, only to overhear fellow students fretting about a bombing by ISIS. What had happened? Why is this happening? What do we do?
I immediately ran home to turn on the news, just to find that a bombing had indeed occurred earlier that morning in Brussels. Nearly 30 people had lost their lives and 200 suffered injuries. Families had lost their loved ones. Friends had lost their close allies. Brussels was under attack. And there I was, just moments earlier, whining about a paper I had to write on a book I hadn’t read.
I took a deep breath and prayed. Prayed for the friends and families of loved ones in Brussels. Prayed for the country of Belgium. And prayed for the safety of our own nation. We don’t have every detail of the horrific attacks in Belgium, but what we do know is that ISIS has since claimed accountability behind them, and three of the suicide bombers are linked to last year’s attacks in Paris, according to the LA Times. Much of Europe is now taking measures to ensure the safety and security of citizens, and our own presidential candidates are making promises to protect us from terror here in America.
The people of Brussels didn’t deserve this tragedy, nor did the people of Paris. It makes me sick seeing these attacks repeated over and over in different parts of the world, and listening to them consume our news cycle. In this very moment though, we all need to stop what we’re doing and think about our loved ones. Call them, hug them, and tell them we love them, for we are not promised tomorrow.