Katyana just called me while I was checking out a busted RAID on a professor's server.
My Mother and Brother are OK.
Would bear repeating, but only to myself perhaps. I was 99.9% certain that they wouldn't be anywhere near London yesterday but I was wrong.
My Mother overruled my Stepfather; he wanted to see the sights of London but she wanted to avoid London as she has trouble walking far. While I'm sure that they wouldn't have been caught in one of the explosions, I am not so confident that her heart could have taken the shock of such proximity to terror.
My Brother was right there, at one of the explosions although I don't know which. I don't have any more details but I assume his job as an accountant or auditor took him to the square mile yesterday. He had to walk out with everyone else so thankfully his only injuries are sore feet.
Some days at work are boring wastelands of slacking. Others, like today, are busy with crises and projects that need to be completed or solved ASAP. I do wish I had a slacker day today so I could call my family immediately.
I cannot imagine how someone feels when they lose someone; I haven't lost anyone except my Father to estrangement and hatred. Katyana lost two family members this year, her Father and Grandmother. I feel terrible that I can't fully empathise with her. For about 24 hours until just now I maybe felt a wavering shadow of what she's gone through and I didn't cope very well. I'm in awe of Katyana's emotional strength and depth.