People Say Never Forget

16 Apr 2010 – Greensboro, NC – my mind in Blacksburg, VA

All we could do was wait and listen to the sirens. We were scared. There was no information other than “there is a shooter on campus. Stay away from windows,” and the increasing body count. Mobile phone communication silenced by an overwhelmed network.

I doubt I will forget that.

Instant messaging Tara, my best friend and partner, while she was in and out of connectivity hiding in a stairwell with others. Every time her connection dropped, I was literally dizzy. This seemingly happened for hours but realistically probably minutes.

No, I probably won’t forget that.

The news conference broke the silence. We were given a story, timeline, numbers, and the horror was realized. Thousands were brought closer over losses we could barely imagine.

I won’t forget that either.

But most important to this Virginia Tech alumnus, on April 16th, I won’t forget to celebrate being alive and know that you and I are lucky.