Yesterday was a very sad day. To be truthful, so far, this has been a pretty sad decade. But yesterday hit home.

One of our faculty was beaten and raped in her own home yesterday morning just before school. Her attacker claimed he was from Louisiana, that he had lost everything and therefore had nothing more to lose by hurting this sweet woman. He still hasn’t been apprehended.

I am overwhelmed with emotions. Foremost, incredible grief and empathy for this woman that I barely know. I ache for her–I know that I cannot truly imagine her pain.

But I also feel such grief for those whose worlds have been destroyed by Katrina. And I wonder if her attacker was truthful–I mean, why should he be? Could losing your family and home to a hurricane turn you into a murderous rapist? Or has this hideous human simply compounded his crime by falsely blaming it on other victims?

I worry that others will hear her story and turn away from opportunities to help these people, these victims of a natural disaster, or, even worse, fear and shun them. There is so much heartbreak around us now. How much more can we take?