The Interior Living Room

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I have no words to express how much we’ve lost today. He was truly gifted and he will be missed. RIP Michael.

This is and always will be a site for interior living room design – for remodeling advice, and the latest redecorating ideas and products. Having said that, this post is both completely unrelated and absolutely necessary to my conscience, as I lend my own prayers and grateful thanks to the people involved in the very recent rescue on the Hudson River.

If you’ve just crawled from under a rock, here’s the deal: today an Airbus 320 took off, proceeded to hit a flock of birds, and subsequently crash landed in the Hudson River a few hours ago, at or around 3:30 pm local time.

150 passengers and 5 crew members all made it out alive, and this is in no small part due to the bravery and utter genius of the pilot and copilot. It is worth repeating that statement 1 million times, so that we might grasp the depth of skill and nerve it took for the pilot to successfully land a plane of that size in open water, without it breaking into a million pieces. The pilot and copilot deserve the highest civilian medal that can be bestowed, and I truly hope they get what they deserve. They are the textbook definition of heroes.

The passengers are also blessed to have had New Yorkers close by, because after September 11 NYC emergency services have been prepared for the worst. They have prepared well. There were boats, ferries, and rescue crews at that crash site within minutes, helping people off the doomed plane to safety. I’ve even heard that a 911 call was dispatched before the plane had crashed, and rescue workers were actually en route because someone noticed the plane was flying unusually low. No doubt that was a sight that any New Yorker would instinctively fear.

Today’s plane crash and subsequent rescue is a testament to the strength we can all find through adversity. It is a testament to the resolve of people who know what tragedy means, and of a people that won’t let it happen again willingly. I’m proud to be alive right now.

It has been 2 years since an airline crash has caused a fatality in the US, quite an achievement considering US airlines transport nearly 1/4th of the world’s population around the globe every year.  Thankfully, that record stands today.

And so I sit here and write, humbled and ever more hopeful that – in spite of the news of our crumbling economy and violent times – we are still blessed enough to be granted miracles like this one. When something this stunning and wonderful happens from a situation that contained a potential for total disaster, well it makes me worry just a little bit less about our future.