Community Grieves the I-35 Bridge

Along with thousands of visitors this week, I visited the site of the collapsed I-35 bridge in Minneapolis. I was struck by the lines of people filing toward and away from the temporary chain link fence at University and I-35, a porta potty nearby to accommodate the crowds drawn to the remains of the bridge.

What is it about the tragedy that brings people of different ages, different races, different socio-economic classes together? What draws them to come in droves--on foot, on bike, with cane and in stroller--to view what they could see so easily by turning on the TV or opening the newspaper?

Certainly it must be a sense of shared experience. Of disbelief. Of comfort in coming together. What I felt beyond all else, as I stood beside people I have never met and will never know, is a strong sense of community.

Barriers of age, race, experience broke down easily as people shared their common sense of disbelief that a bridge used by so many could come down in seconds. A new community, that formed by shared amazement and grief, was formed and reformed throughout the day at several locations overlooking the site.

I am thankful for the real closeness I felt as I stood behind the fence, witnessing for myself not only the amazement that the bridge fell but also how a community of people together heals. My wish is that we could slow down the pace of our everyday lives to realize the value in coming together, building each other up, without needing a tragedy to show how we're more alike than different.