It's been a hard couple of days, to be sure.

There is no one that isn't hurt by these tragic deaths. I don't believe for a moment that Ben Hatfield the CEO of the mining company wanted to hurt the friends and family. I think he made a mistake in trying to figure how to lessen their pain and chose wrong. In looking at his face, I saw a man who will forever wish he had done more and had done things differently. Not a heartless man in my book.

By the way, according to reports, the mine was just bought by the present owners in 2005 and they were making improvements to it. I don't know if they could have or should have done more- it just seems like there's more to this tragedy than we can blame or point a finger at.

One thing haunts me- the fact that America's economy is so poor that people still have to risk their lives to make a decent wage in states like W. Virginia. It frustrates me that we all have to work so hard just to survive. I think of the woman whose husband decided to work in the mines so she could get her master's degree... The fight for a better life for themselves and their children. It breaks my heart.

All day today I was thinking of the tour I took in 2003 into a historical coal mine in Wales. The tour guides were former coal miners and some of the nicest men I met in the UK to be sure. I am reminded about how terrifying it was down there in those mine shafts. How dark when we turned off our lights. How eerily quiet.

With such thoughts, I have been been carrying these 12 men on my shoulders and with the last news, have felt deep sorrow for the families who've lost loved ones. I also am praying for Mr. McCloy- not just that he recovers- I am also praying that he doesn't suffer from survior's guilt and hurt himself in payment to those who didn't survive. It happens more than most know.

--SunnySister