Scary event today...

My wife Shanda is a teacher at Victoria School for the Performing Arts in Edmonton and today @ 1:40pm they went into lockdown. I found out from my sister-in-law who just happened to have called Shanda and got some whispery details from her...

Shanda had also emailed me with some info but I was already out getting some groceries and stuff so I didn't know what was happening...

Anyway, the time between finding out about the lockdown and then finding out that everything was okay was some of the scariest minutes of my life. I felt like they would be safe, especially knowing that the swat team was already there, and also knowing that it wasn't a gunman but just an escaped mental patient.

That said, I couldn't help but think of all the school shootings in the news, not to mention some other events that already happened at the school in recent history (sexual assault, arson), so I was preparing myself for some bad news...

When I saw Shanda's school number on my cell phone, I was relieved, but even as I picked it up, I thought that it could be someone notifying me of something bad, and not necessarily Shanda...

In the end, everyone was safe and the escapee was apprehended in a completely different location a few blocks from the school. I am thankful that the school practices lockdown drills regularly enough that they were able to feel safe during today's "non-drill."

Some of Shanda's students were frightened, understandably (as I was), but Shanda was able to keep them calm and make them feel safe. I can't imagine what it must have felt like for the young kids.

I'm a pretty happy guy in general, but I tell ya, I felt like Raymond in Fight Club... my dinner tonight was the best I ever tasted. It was with my family safe at home.