"There was stuff in the air that...just shouldn't be in the air."

A woman on the 35W bridge who walked away said this, and it's absolutely chilling in its simplicity and what it implies.

I'm having a really hard time with this. I'm so angry and it's affecting everything. I feel like people who aren't talking about it don't care, and I know that's not a fair thing to think, everyone deals with things differently, but I just have to be mad. Not at anyone -- if anything, I'm thankful for everyone I know, that they're okay and that so far as I know everybody I know is safe.

This has changed Minnesota, who we are and how we will see things in the future. I am proud to be a Minnesotan, though, today. The quick reaction of EMTs and First Responders and general civilians who stepped in to pull kids off the bus and to help people escape from their cars saved lives. The fact that Minneapolis handled the tragedy as if it was something that happened all the time, that only four lives (so far) have been lost....though four lives too many, the death toll could have been so much higher.

Will I ever drive over a bridge without holding my breath again? Nope. Will I ever underestimate the scope of a tragedy that doesn't deal with terrorism or a hurricane again? Nope. If one life is lost or a thousand, for the people living in the tragedy, it's impossibly hard.