Condolences

We heard later in the afternoon that there was an incident involving U.S. tourists at one of Beijing's landmark tourist sites. It was only late tonight it crossed the wire that the family injured in the attack was the Bachman family of Minneapolis.

During my days at the Minnesota State University at Mankato, I held many temp jobs, including several Christmas and Valentine's Day holiday shifts at the garden center and floral superstore known as the Bachman's headquarters, located just south of downtown Minneapolis and Uptown neighborhoods. The family has a long history in Minnesota and, as I recall, the company usually is called on to decorate the White House with poinsettias from the Twin Cities (one year while temping on December break, we loaded one of the trucks bound for D.C.).

Though there was never an occasion to meet the Bachman owners personally, I always appreciated this family-owned business for bringing me into their holiday projects and team, and send sincere condolences.