What a weird, awful day.

It's now early Tuesday morning, which means the weirdest Monday I've had in ages is finally over. Between OKPD officer Chad Peery succumbing to wounds sustained in a Sunday rollover accident and the Boston Marathon bombings, I was just in this weird headspace all day.

Granted, I didn't know either Office Peery or any of those injured/killed at the marathon [even though I did know people at the marathon and, thankfully, they were all OK], but as a human being, it still shakes you. I was at the Thunder game in February where Officer Peery walked to accept his Devon Community Hero Award. It was such an amazing moment to witness this man - partially paralyzed after a senseless act of violence - actually take steps and use his own two feet to accept his award. For it to all end for him the way it did...my heart just breaks for his family.

And then, the Boston Marathon bombings happened soon after it was announced that Officer Peery had passed. Like most breaking news stories, I saw it on Twitter and immediately went to CNN.com. I'm not sure anyone could grasp what fully happened until after the dust had settled and the crowd had been cleared. All I remember thinking was, "Not again. Dear Lord, not again." Why does this keep happening in this country? Shootings, bombings...I shouldn't be terrified to run in the OKC Memorial 5K next Sunday, but I am. I'm not even sure if I'll run it, even though I'm leaning towards running. I just don't get why people think it's OK to pull other people into their miserable existences and hurt/kill people in the process.

We could all probably argue for days about the many reasons why these senseless acts of violence continue to happen on our turf. From mental health care to access to guns to the Internet providing instructions on how to make bombs...I'm sure people could go on and on about why this keeps happening. But the bottom line is, people are dying because of violence. No one has pinpointed a responsible person/party for the Boston Marathon bombings, or a motive - so speculating is grossly premature at this point. But someone, somewhere, did this. Someone, somewhere, is responsible for injuring more than 130 people and killing 3, including an 8-year-old boy. It's sickening.

I guess the point of this post is to get this out: even in the face of tragedy, we will prevail. Today is a new day full of promise and hope. As long as we continue to live, continue to move forward, we will survive. I must say that I am proud to be a part of a nation where people - bystanders, police officers, firefighters, National Guardsmen - threw their own safety to the wind and immediately began helping those who were injured after the blasts. We are at our strongest when we face the most uncertainty, and that is why this country is still standing, even as we've faced such unspeakable tragedies over the years.

Yesterday was such a weird day, as an Oklahoman and as an American. But this country has [unfortunately] gotten used to bouncing back in the face of adversity, and that's exactly what we're going to do. My thoughts are with those affected by the blasts, as well as the family and police family of Officer Peery.