Can a City Cry?

Many scientists and sociologists liken a city to a person. All of the tiniest elements work together in separate and distinct systems. So what happens if the city is pained? Can a city feel? Can a city hurt? Can a city cry?Yes, it can.At 1:00 PM today, 13:00 for our foreign readers, the emergency responders of my town worked together to become the voice of the city. At the same time, every emergency vehicle sounded its sirens, alarms, and horns. The sounds were expressed with such vigor that surely, the heavens heard them. The cool breezy air was, for one minute, filled with a wail; a wail I have heard before. Sixty seconds of a mother who lost her child; a husband who lost his wife; a priest without his God. It does not matter how long ago these things happened. It hurts just the same.Some media outlets try to avoid the pain by celebrating our independence, our freedom. But I know that most of us are still wounded. A wound so deep even ten years of grieving does not dull the agony. These times really beget the spirit of the city. Unexpected kindness and good faith swell from the city's limits, like a glow of a mother-to-be. For one day, we are not untied, but united; not quarreling, but coalescing. We are one people......and it is fantastic.