Tragedy.

An icy road that takes a parent’s only child.

The stroke that racks the body of a grandma loved by three generations.

Cancer that ravages organs of a husband’s true love.

Despair so deep it grips the soul of a teenager until their one relief comes with taking their own life.

A single defining day when our home’s soil was attacked, forever changing the lives of hundreds of people, and a great country.

Life lost matters; it is never easy. We remember with an ache because we know what once was. We know what used to fill the remains, the void, the dry bones of a building.

We don’t forget, and we stand tall. With courage, we fight to keep going. Because tragedy doesn’t define us.