30 years of pain in lightening speed
Hello my good readers, I have to take a deep breath to start this piece, as something happened to a member of my family recently that reminded me of episodes of violence and great sadness that didn't seem so long ago. Then I realized that 30 years (or more) have passed. So much has changed for the better in the systematic response and management of emergencies, born out of one of the episodes -- but the episodes of senseless violence are still present. So much still stays the same...for some but not all. Part of that violence hit home within my inner circle, and it immediately made me think of an event that ended in a historic tragedy in Northeast (NE) Philadelphia. NE Philly is a part of the city that is a part of me. I'm a NE kid. My friend Joe and I talk about our NE youth all the time.. Within days, the anniversary of that horrific event hit the news, it was then that I realized that 30 years had passed. 30 years had passed...