Still Sad

I can't believe how sad I still feel about Tim Russert.

This morning Meet the Press will be on, but Tim won't be there. It's hard to believe how quickly heart disease can take people. The same thing happened with my first boss - a different kind of heart problem, but a similar sudden passing. He was away on a trip with our 9th grade students in the Grand Canyon, and a weakness in his artery just gave way. I think how all the folks at NBC feel must be how we felt at our school. Somone who nurtured our careers, who made a family of the place, was suddenly taken from us and we couldn't quite understand how or why. We went on teaching - I remember my face feeling tight and sad, but getting up there in front of my students and teaching them a real lesson, because I thought that was what was best for them and for me. You get up in front of the class, in front of the camera, and you work - because for some reason it calms the tight sadness in your chest and holds back the tears.

What's so strange about the modern world is how we have so many people come into our homes on a regular basis, so much so we feel like we know them. As a news junkie, Tim Russert was one of those people for me. But Keith Olbermann, Andrea Mitchell, Tom Brokaw, and Matt Lauer are too, and seeing the sadness in their faces just makes me know that they feel what we felt when we lost John at 46. Just like Tim Russert, John Cosentino was a vibrant man who loved life, and we felt at our school, loved us.

So if you can, say a little prayer for Tim Russert and his family - and say one for John Cosentino and his family. I always try to remember that at every Mass, from baptisms to weddings to funerals, the priest says, "Let us give thanks to the Lord our God," and we respond, "It is right to give him thanks and praise." Our time here is so short, and it is right to give Him thanks and praise that we were here at all.