On Asia

Monday, December 27, 2004

I am just bewildered and horrified and in shock. Every time I see the news, the death toll in Asia has risen by thousands. It just overwhelms, and such a huge number -- 20,000 dead as of this morning's paper -- is impossible to comprehend. Sometimes it seems easy to shut yourself off because it happened a long way away, to people you've never met.
Then this morning on CNN, they interviewed via phone Nate Berkus, the adorable, crush-worthy designer who's Oprah's new toy. I've never met him and don't know him, but it suddenly brought it home. He described being hit by the wave, holding on for his life and watching bodies swirl around him... and he told us that his friend has not been found. One assumes that his friend was more than just a friend.
It's when people tell their stories that the horror is revealed.
And only a few moments later, the hosts on CNN are laughing as if the world is a joyous place.

The Advocate has more about Nate's friend, a photographer named Fernando Bengoechea, who has not yet been found.

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