And the girls were so beautiful...so innocent and sweet and they had such wonderful lives to yet give to this world...and that was all taken out."

--Cindy Renn, Jennifer Hawke-Petit's sister...on our 5pm news Wednesday.

If you missed it, the video is posted elsewhere on our web site.

And you should see her and hear her. In 91 seconds, Ms. Renn ran the gamut of emotions: the grief and pain that came through the screen...but also the joy her sister and nieces brought her...and the deep love she felt for them.

I often wonder why people, in their worst moments of grief, are willing to face a television news camera.

But Cindy Renn clearly wanted everyone to know what good, giving people Jennifer, Hayley, and Michaela were. It was not intrusive television, it was instructive in human nature.

It is, perhaps, a cathartic exercise. One I'm not sure I could stand up to under, heaven forbid, a similar circumstance.

She delivered her message with a courage and compassion that drove people to tears, Kevin Nathan and my wife among them.

Maybe because of the nature of our jobs, when my wife and I part ways, we always add "be careful" to our goodbyes.

It's probably a tacit admission that we know everything we've built together can be taken away in the blink of an eye...just as Bill Petit lost everything dear to his personal life in one cataclysmic event.

It's also an acknowledgment that we know we have so much, we enjoy what we have, and we enjoy sharing what we have. I'll bet the Petits did too.

We don't live in fear. Not for a minute. And I'll bet the Petits didn't either.

But it doesn't hurt to be careful. When I left for work Wednesday, I made sure the doors and windows were locked.

I always do.

But this time, I double-checked.

Our lead story was already on my mind.