No Smiles Today-This Is A Heart Wrencher

I know a lot of you come here

for a smile in the morning.

Today is just a bit different.

A bit somber.

We have been coming to the UP

(Upper Peninsula of Michigan)

as a get-away

for many years.

It is a soul soother for both of us.

About 10 years ago I picked up a

book that was written locally.

Tinsel And Tears.

It fascinated me.

It talked about the

Italian Hall disaster

in a building that was built

in 1908,

a proud building for

a thriving mining town.

In 1913 during a miner's strike,

there was a lot of hard feelings between

the mine owners and the workers.

They had been on strike for

several months.

When Christmas rolled around

several of the wealthy wives

decided to have a

Christmas party

on

Christmas Eve

for the miner's children.

Many of them did not even

have enough to eat

because their fathers had

been unemployed for several

months.

They proceeded to set up

food and presents for all

the families in the

upstairs rooms of the

Italian Hall.

As the gifts began to be

handed out

SOMEONE

(no one ever proved who it was)

yelled

FIRE!

In a crowded upstairs banquet hall,

with only one narrow stairwell

going down to the outside.

Panic ensued.

They all rushed to save themselves.

Down this stairway.

The door at the bottom

opened inward.

It was locked-

or as many speculated-

held in place by

thugs from the mining company.

It is a mystery that was

never solved.

73 people perished that night.

59 of them were children

aged from 3 to 12.

There are pictures of the

children lying lined up

like angels in the morgue

but I couldn't bring myself

to post them.

Sometimes,

too much is just too much.

We went today and walked

the cobblestones

up to the arch over the

front door that still stands

We read the plaque the memorializes

the awful event.

We left and moved on with our day.

but I will forever be saddened

by the thought of those

precious children

going to a party,

dressing up in their

"bestest clothes"

and dying trying

to escape a fire

that never was.

Can you imagine?

Can you imagine the grief,

not only of losing a child,

but the grief, and anger,

that it happened so needlessly.

And on Christmas Eve,

that most holy of Eves.

A Christmas Eve that

will haunt the town

forever.

All you Moms and Dads

 and Nanas and Papas-

Hug your children tight tonight

and kiss those precious faces.

Revel in their lives

because

we are all

blessed to have them.

A sad post today-

but smiles tomorrow-

I promise.