My mind is murky at best as I try to comprehend the tragedy that has struck so many in Japan. To truly understand the continual anguish our neighbors are going through.

For the briefest of seconds when I woke to the news early Friday morning, my heart dropped into the pit of my stomach. The tsunami was moving toward Hawaii. My parents were there. A frantic text message and phone call determined in less then a minute that they were not in any danger. Less then a minute to ease my anxiety while others are going on days of anguish. Of loss. Of grief on a scale I cannot begin to comprehend.

And my sensitive five-year-old, trying to make sense of the pieces of conversations he is hearing. The images he is catching glimpses of. And us, trying to carefully explain the irreversible course these lives have taken, in a way a five-year-old can digest without being fearful of tomorrow.

And I fast.

And I pray.

And I begin by holding my family a little tighter.