Conflicted about Conflict

My girl does not like conflict. When we're watching a show and someone gets in trouble, or the music changes and you know something bad is about to happen, she starts breathing heavy and covers her ears. I always talk her through it, and she comes out fine. In shows, there's always a happy ending.

Last Monday Boston got bombed. On Tuesday I prepared to take Aurora for an outing. We live close to Boston, and in fact I had been planning on taking her into Boston before the tragedy.

 I wanted to know what she knew, so, with her mom there, I asked her what she knew. She said, "You know. You know..." Her mom coached her and told me at the same time, that some bad guys were at the marathon and there was an explosion and some people got hurt. Aurora nodded. She did not want to say it herself. Why would she want to? 

When we got outside, she said, "I don't want to go downtown." I assured her we wouldn't, and I wondered when we would be able to. Just a few weeks ago I had taken her for a nice long walk a block from the area that is now a crime scene. I want to take her for a nice long walk again, ending up at the Public Garden, a beautiful space to run and play.

Yesterday, a week after the bombings, there was a moment of silence in Boston at 2:50 PM, the time when the first bomb went off. We were at the pool, getting ready for her swimming lesson at 3:00. A mom and child from Aurora's class, and Aurora and I had our own little moment of silence right there in the hallway next to the pool "for the good guys who helped." It felt really good.

One day I'll take Aurora downtown again. We'll make our own happy ending.