Reflections, One Year Later

You're reading this in the EYE, so chances are you live in or near Middletown, and it's likely that one year ago, you felt or heard a loud boom or crash as the River Road power plant under construction exploded. Six working men lost their lives and dozens were injured in that blast. What makes tragedies such as this one even more difficult to recover from mentally, is the fact that they are preventable and likely could have been avoided. Systemic failures that lead to this breadth of devastation never happen spontaneously. They are the result of a series of actions, judgements, and missteps by multiple responsible parties over a period of time that collectively build and lead to catastrophe. For those directly impacted, the individuals and families that felt the explosion both literally and figuratively and suffered losses as a result, and emergency crews who bore witness amid their swift response, the genesis and scope of the cause will never much matter. Knowledge after the fact can never reverse the reality of acute physical and emotional trauma. February 7th, 2010 is a date that will forever be a milestone marker in time, an ending in many ways and a beginning in many ways also. May the passing of one year since this awful event signify our duty to remember, and the ability of those still in pain to continue forward on the path to finding peace and forgiveness.