The effects of the explosions at the Boston Marathon have rippled their way across the globe, once again shattering our arguably false sense of safety and security. The twisted irony of the event is that the sport of running is about freedom; it's about escaping and taking to the open road without fear. The finish line, a place reserved for pride and celebration, was the site of the detonation on Monday, April 15. An innocent boy, a restaurant owner and foreign Chinese student lost their lives on a day that was supposed to be like any other. One hundred and eighty others were wounded.
The debates surrounding national security, gun control and the safety and security of populations do not stop at the U.S. border. Canadians remain similarly vulnerable to attacks of terrorism and threats of violence.
The events of Sept. 11, 2001, changed our world. The blasts of bombs, threat of terrorism and victims of war exist on our soil.
It was only a few years ago that news of suicide bombings and terrorism headlined international news, happening far away from North America. That news hits closer to home now with the events of Columbine, 9/11, Virginia Tech, Sandy Hook, Aurora, Colorado and most recently, the Boston Marathon.
We're living in a society where we cannot escape the harsh realities of cruelty that plague our world; they conceal themselves in hidden black bags or crash themselves into the side of a nation's building.
I can't imagine how veterans, who fought for the very peace we're struggling to preserve, feel about the tragedies reported each day.
The events that happen from day to day, month to month and year to year change our perceptions of society.
We may apprehensively watch strangers as they walk through the hallways of our children's schools, we may take a second glance at the people sitting next to us on the airplane or we may opt to rent a movie rather than go see one in theatres.
Regardless of the efforts put forth to strengthen our safety, and despite ongoing tactics to gain intelligence and maintain national security, we will never truly be free from the evil that sometimes strikes.
The explosions of the Boston Marathon proved that.
Living in Canada, Saskatchewan nonetheless, we sometimes live with the mentality that 'it can't happen here or won't happen to me.' But it can quite possibly.
The worldwide manhunt that got underway in the moments following the Boston Marathon explosions came to a head on the night of April 18, as the FBI identified brothers Dzhokhar and Tamerlan Tsarnaev as two primary suspects.
Just hours after the FBI released photos and videos of the two young men, a high-speed chase ensued and resulted in the death of Suspect No. 1. An MIT officer was killed and another law personnel was severely wounded in the night of violence.
A young woman living in the neighbourhood of the chase told the Associated Press she was awakened by gunfire and a large explosion. I'm sure she didn't expect terrorism to land on the front porch of her suburban home and yet, she said that she had SWAT team officers running all over her yard and she was looking at her front door when a bullet came through the side paneling of her home.
We can't live each day in fear but we must live with awareness that 'those types of things' can happen to anyone living anywhere.
We shouldn't take our peace for granted because it could be destroyed with no warning.
