Such A Sad Week

Hello Gang.
I can't bring myself to write my usual "Happy Monday" today, for what are probably obvious reasons. Funeral services were held for Coach Ed Thomas this morning. Like many of you, I didn't know "Coach T" personally. In fact, I never even met him or interviewed him when I was in Parkersburg last year after the tornado. It's become obvious during the last five days that this was a wonderful man. A man who didn't deserve to die at such a young age, in such a violent way.
As an anchor and reporter it can be hard to wrap your head around the horrible events we cover everyday, but this incident has touched most of us more than many others. Everyone is asking "why?" The sad and frustrating thing is that there may never be an answer - or at least not one that makes any sense to anyone.
What's clear is that Ed Thomas was a great football coach. What's also clear, and more important, is that he was a man of faith and character who tried to instill those qualities in the kids he taught and coached. And even if you never knew Ed Thomas, you could easily imagine the kind of man he was by seeing his eldest son read a family statement the afternoon after the shooting. If you didn't see it, we still have it in the video player on our homepage. You'll need to click through to page 11. Listening to Aaron Thomas is well worth your time. He exhibits incredible grace, composure and compassion in the face of unthinkable tragedy. There isn't a hint of self-pity or anger. It's an example of someone being wonderful when things are terrible and it doesn't appear to be the least bit disingenuous. Bad things happen to good people everyday. Oftentimes the reaction to those things is what speaks volumes about those involved. It certainly has in this case.