Bikes and bombs

When I was a kid, we could get anywhere on our bikes. Of course, the length and width of our town’s borders were, at their furthest, a scant five to eight miles. On weekends or over summer, we’d possibly ride some 10 or 20 miles just in the course of our day – it wasn’t exercise (as a goal), but it was how we negotiated life, friends, events.

My childhood was spent in Monroe, Michigan – a sleepy little town between Detroit and Toledo that was once a hub for paper mills and housed a Ford Motor Company plant. From the official website of the City of Monroe (http://www.ci.monroe.mi.us/):

Founded in 1785 and the site of a War of 1812 battlefield, Monroe is a community that has a shared vision that seeks to balance the opportunities of economic development with the stewardship that is required for historic preservation. Monroe is also Michigan's third oldest community. With a population of nearly 23,000, Monroe is located about 17-miles north of Toledo, Ohio and about 35-miles south of Detroit. The City of Monroe was incorporated in 1817 and is also the county seat of Monroe County.

Monroe's location on the west shore of Lake Erie and its River Raisin made it a natural crossroads for food and transportation that attracted the Potawatomi Tribe of Indians who first lived here. Later, French missionaries, fur trappers, and settlers came for the same reasons. Residents and visitors today continue to find Monroe to be a welcoming crossroads of historic and natural treasures. The city is home to the National Register of Historic Places War of 1812 River Raisin Battlefield. Monroe's natural environment is showcased and preserved by having the 260-acre Eagle Island Marsh unit of the Detroit River International Wildlife Refuge located in it. And the inland sea of Lake Erie offers boating, swimming, camping, wetlands exploration, hiking, and fishing, at the 1,300-acre Sterling State Park on the shores of Lake Erie.

Two days ago, a car bomb exploded in Monroe, Michigan.

This so doesn’t make sense. Car bombs explode in the Middle East, Northern Ireland, portions of South America, and, in the case of domestic ideology or foreign malfeasance, in city centers such as Oklahoma City or New York. Car bombs do not explode in Monroe.

I reckon that this was just over two miles from my childhood home. This wasn’t Beirut, Belfast, or Baghdad. This was Monroe.

OK, I’m probably being way too naïve believing that bad things can’t happen in our sacred spaces – in my case, my childhood haunts. I’m also trying to balance feelings of anger with a hopeful belief that this isn’t real.

Seriously, a bomb that injured two children in addition to their father?

OK, deep breath. Bad things happen and there are bad people in the world. Prudent awareness has a place in our lives – as does hopefulness that good will prevail.

This is a very selfish post – not written for my readers, but for me . . . thanks for your indulgence . . . and, if you are inclined, for your prayers for this family.