serial sadness

I'm sitting in bed, reading, enjoying a tv show, talking on the phone...the pager goes off.  

5 minutes later I'm standing on the outskirts of a family's worst nightmare.  A beautiful, vibrant young daughter has just died from an act of senseless violence.

Her boyfriend walks past me swollen eyes, blowing his nose.  Her mother stands still and quiet, in shock, one grandfather is sobbing, shoulders shaking as he weeps, another elderly gentleman is struggling to use the cell phone, to share the sorrow with someone else.

I've never seen any of these people before.  But the expressions of grief are so palpable, so intense that I have to force myself to swallow back the hurt I feel.

 ⁹ Have mercy on me, Lord, for I am in distress. Tears blur my eyes.
  ¹⁴ But I am trusting you, O Lord,  saying, “You are my God!”                                                           Psalms 31:9 and 14 NLT