Brian Sandford: Don’t lose hope for better future, and thank you

Events in the past week have cast a shadow over Carson City that will remain well into our sunny summer.

We learned throughout Monday that terrorists had struck one of our nation’s most history-laden cities on its most patriotic of days, and it hurt. It hurt badly. Since, we’ve watched an unprecedented lockdown of a major U.S. city.

Carson City is home to patriotic people. Regardless of our political leanings, we are proud Americans. And when America is wounded, we feel it.

Two people in our newsroom weren’t yet teenagers on Sept. 11, 2001. That’s when people of my generation — those who hadn’t yet fought in a war and only knew conflicts as they existed in Kosovo and Somalia — suddenly grew up. We were hit with an unwelcome-but-enlightening dose of reality as we understood that, no, we weren’t always guaranteed safety.

It’s a reminder that for our youngest residents, what happened Monday was their version of Sept. 11 — a moment of innocence lost.

Our newsroom watched Monday’s events unfold with the same pale-faced horror the rest of you likely did. Around lunchtime, there were reports of explosions. Perhaps they’d been accidental. Then there were reports of deaths, and of people losing limbs. That’s about the time disgust and anger start to outweigh fear and confusion.

Several readers contacted us, saying they knew people running in the marathon, had run in it themselves or had lived in Boston for years. They wanted to share their thoughts and connections.

We’re grateful. If you know of Carson City news, we want to hear from you. If you know of national news with connections to Carson City, tell us. We greatly appreciate the readers who contacted us Monday, allowing us to write a story about local people connected to the disaster who, it turns out, had plenty of great insights.

We don’t enjoy reporting on bad news, but it’s our job, and we’re grateful for your help.

In the meantime, here’s hoping the next generation doesn’t have to confront the awful news we received this past week. Let’s hope the future is better.

Editor Brian Sandford can be reached at bsandford@nevadaappeal.com.