Inspiration.

Today I read no less than three different articles that brought me to tears. (Not an easy feat if you know me!) Each of these pieces showed such raw human emotion and inspiration that it was actually bone chilling.

I remember reading Marina Keegan's beautifully written essay just days after my own college graduation and thinking how perfectly she had captured all of the thoughts, feelings and emotions that I had been struggling to summarize. And I remember that cold, sad realization that also set in while reading it that this extraordinary young woman was no longer with us. It was truly mind-blowing to thing that this beautiful girl with clearly so much a head of her and so much to give, was gone so suddenly. We were the same age. Practically at the same spot in life: mere moments past our college graduation, ready to take on the world. But she was gone.

Today, a book of Marina's work was published title "The Opposite of Loneliness." The title comes from the first sentence of her now famous graduation essay where she states in the opening line, "We don't have a word for the opposite of loneliness, but if we did, I could say that's what I want in life." This BuzzFeed article, written by one of Marina's close friends is a wonderful tribute to her memory in showing what a spectacular human being she was, with so much to give in life.

Today also marks the 20 year anniversary of the start of the Rwandan genocide. I remember watching the movie "Hotel Rwanda" when it first came out and being horrified that things like that still happen in the world. In the "Book of Life," Rwandan's (both victims and perpetrators) of the genocide write letters to the dead - loved ones, family members, people they murdered. One letter a day will be read live on the Rwandan radio network for the next 100 days. The same number of days that the genocide lasted.

These letters are like small glimpses into the lives of the people affected by the genocide. A brief look into the daily suffering it caused, and stills causes them. A few excerpts from the book can be read here.

We are also coming up on the one year anniversary of the Boston Marathon bombings. The strength and resilience shown by all of the victims of that tragedy is awe inspiring. However, I found this story of a young bride and groom, both gravely injured during the bombings, who have conquered so many challenges and obstacles in the past year, who were given the opportunity to stand up in front of everyone they love and profess their love for each other so beautiful.

All of these events are terribly tragic. But the messages that come from their victims and their survivors are so inspiring it is impossible not to find yourself in tears.