Belgium — Annick Debien attended Cathedral High School and lived in St
She now lives about 5 miles from the Brussels airport hit by bomb attacks Tuesday
Those two explosions and another at a train station killed at least 31 and injured at least 300 people
Debien said Belgians are regaining their strength through public demonstrations
wife and mother of two daughters talked to the Times on Thursday over Skype
Debien lived with Rebecca Brown-Medvec's family in 1986-87
Brown-Medvec is the assistant director of Intercultural & International Student Services at the College of St
Brown-Medvec's family attended Debien's wedding in 1994 in Belgium
Opposite emotions flooded Debien earlier this week
a colleague at her school informed her of something happening at the Zaventem international airport
Debien said she immediately thought of her daughter
was going to board a train heading past the airport that would take her to the Odisee college in Brussels
she learned of the additional attack at the Maelbeek train station
which is a five-minute walk from her daughter's school
and she verified her daughter's safety after a short time
Debien described her feelings since the attacks as emotionally confusing
Debien said politicians are arguing about responsibility
"Belgium’s justice and interior ministers acknowledged Thursday that the authorities had erred by not acting on Turkey’s request last year that they take custody of a Belgian citizen arrested for suspected terrorist activity." The man was a suicide bomber in the Tuesday attacks
The two officials offered their resignations Thursday
but Belgium's prime minister rejected both
Debien said citizens simply want a safe environment to live in
The Times asked if big differences exist between Central Minnesota and Belgium
even if slight differences appear with a glance
Follow Mitch on Twitter , Facebook , Instagram and Snapchat: leclairmitch