I’ve been reading about the Miami condo collapse and found it so incredibly upsetting. When tragedies like this happen, you keep asking why. And you hope that some miracle will find at least a few of the people OK. So, I’ve been reading a lot of the coverage to see if they’ve found any more survivors or if they have any understanding of why this horrible thing happened.

I ran across this story in the Washington Post story about Erick De Moura, who lived in the collapsed building, and was all set to go home when his girlfriend convinced him to stay at her place, even though he had an early morning meeting and needed stuff from his apartment for it.

Thankfully, he stayed. And he was not at home when the building collapse. She loved him and asked him to stay and he loved her enough to say yes, and it turned out to be life saving for him.

It’s a wonderful story amid such tragedy. It reminds us just how fateful a simple choice can be, just how it can change everything.

I’m glad for Mr. De Moura and his girlfriend. It’s a nice spark of warmth in this awful situation.