I was reminded of the importance of family today... I got calls from three of my cousins checking that D was ok. Physically, yes he is. And aside from the whole being 'shocked' that everything is happening right where he is, he's taking it all quite well emotionally as well.
Thank goodness he's not as empathetic and emotional as I am. I feel heavy-hearted and become teary-eyed just reading the news reports, especially the ones with eyewitness accounts. I could not imagine being on campus experiencing the confusion/chaos, being locked-down in class in a building adjacent to the unfolding horror, waiting for an update from the one person in class with a laptop and only connection to the outside world, or listening to friends talk about how freaky it was being in a classroom on the same floor as the rampaging gunman. Actually, I don't want to imagine it. It reminds me of the whole 9/11 thing where I had to stop watching the news because just listening to people talk about their lost families made me sad and depressed.
It's amazing the number of people who come out of the woodwork when something like this happens. Aside from the usual family and friends, he was getting messages from friends of friends of friends, people who went to the same high school but he didn't personally know, and many others.
And I'm as close to the 'action' as I'd ever want to get.