So Damn Sad

This past Monday an unthinkable horror occurred in Blacksburg, Virginia. As the nation shows solidarity today with Virginia Tech, this blog has adopted a new color scheme to show my support for Orange and Maroon Effect Day. While I can only speak for one Aggie, I'm confident that the entire Texas A&M family stands behind the Hokies as they begin to honor the victims and move forward.

I must confess that I've struggled to put words to the events that unfolded at VT last Monday. On Wednesday, Dennis Miller appeared on the O'Reilly Factor and did a much better job than I ever could.

And I'll tell you anybody who speaks in the wake of such a devastation with a high degree of certitude, I find myself tuning out...I think, like I said in the immediate aftermath of an event that is this staggering, this hard to get your head around, I think one's official statement would be befuddled, willing to listen all sides, and try to figure it out.

Then Miller turned to a figure that I've found myself drawn to as well.

Let me say this. I'm intrigued by this character Liviu Librescu, the 76-year-old aerodynamics teacher at the college. Now listen, I think in our society we have somehow in current day America been denuded out of the gene that makes us want to survive at all costs.

I think Librescu, a 76-year-old Holocaust survivor who, if you do the math, was probably 12 when he first saw the face of evil, I'm sure looked up at that narrow window and that door and saw the same sick glint, that dead shark thing in that eye that he had seen as a young man. And he went towards it to stop it.

Professor Librescu did some research in the area of aeroelasticity, a field that I've just begun a research project in. My boss is also originally from Romania and somehow these two facts really made the whole tragedy hit home for me. While Librescu was a hero, it's a shame that it took such an event to reveal it to those of us who did not know him.

I would just encourage you all to give an extra hug to your loved ones this week. If you're the praying type, perhaps you could add a prayer for the 32 families that find themselves unable to do the same.

Here.