JulieLeung.com: a life told in tidepools

I have a number of reasons why it has taken me until midnight to find time to blog. A stack of dishes to tidy from our spontaneous dinner tonight (soup, sushi and mooncakes) with another mom and her kids. Three recycle bins and two garbage cans to fill and take to the curb. Emails in the Inbox and conversations to continue.

Finally I skimmed through my aggregator. I realized that it was the first time all day that I have checked the news. I read that Margaret Hassan is now believed to be dead, her murder recorded on videotape.

When I first read the news on islander Chip Gibbon’s blog, sadness hit me. I’m not sure why. Perhaps her death has a heavy weight as a public symbol and omen of what is to come, if women and humanitarian aid workers like her will now be murdered too. Perhaps it is a personal expression of other sorrows I am experiencing. But learning about Margaret Hassan’s murder upset me for a while. I stood outside and arranged the cans beside the curb, staring into the cloudy night as if the stars could speak comfort.

One of my favorite posts of Chip’s is Sometimes Our Love Surprises Us. I didn’t know Margaret Hassan and can’t say I loved her. But sometimes our grief surprises us.