Godspeed, Mr. Librescu

I was going to post about the logistical quicksand of kids' schedules sucking all my time and energy yesterday, leaving me without a word written. But then I read the front page stories. Memo to self: count your blessings. I intended to remain informed but avoid the excessive news coverage, the TV and Internet voyernalism. I tried to look away when greedy, gold-digging newscasters mined for the raw, fragile emotions of petrified Virgina Tech students. I picked out one each of the thousands of stories on the countless angles they could come up with to cover this story, read the article, and collected my thoughts. I refused to buy into the same old manipulative excess dished out by voyernalism. Asking question after question until the student could no longer hold back his tears (and hold onto his dignity). Presenting more and more shocking cell-phone video so unreal it becomes macabre in its similarity to current Hollywood releases. But, unlike other unspeakable tragedies of the past, the voyernalists couldn't keep up with this pyschopath. It seems every hour, yet another one of his premeditations breaks news.

I worry that the gunman is getting too much attention from the press, encouraging other would-be psychotic attention seekers. I worry that young college students will never sleep soundly in their dorm beds again. I want my daughter to come home from Cal so that I can hold her in my lap and stroke her sweet-smelling hair.

There are stories of heroism and compassion that help redeem humanity from the far-reaching effects of one man's inhumanity. I make sure to read every one of those. One story in particular brings unexpected joy in the midst of unimaginable grief. Out of this obscenely evil act, beauty rose and his name is Liviu Librescu. An authentic humanitarian, Liviu Librescu faced evil before, faced his death at the hands of another grotesque beast during the Holocaust. Yet he managed to hold it off for a time when it would give life back to others. I can't imagine his family's wretching pain, yet I find comfort in New York City councilman (and, according to Newsday, a frequent spokesman for the Orthodox Jewish community in Brooklyn) Dov Hikind's words: "We all know in our community that to save one life is to save the world. Look at the final act of Professor Librescu."

When having to work with unpleasant people in my former PR days, my boss (and now dear friend) Winnie Shows taught me "if you find you can't love someone, learn from them." A gunman introduced us to Mr. Librescu; we could consider that a learning opportunity. In this case, however, I choose to learn from the man in whom I find the love. Godspeed, Mr. Librescu.