In Remembrance

We just got word that a 2001 graduate of my high school is among those dead. I come from a small town here in Virginia and I just know everyone’s thoughts and prayers are with his family and the families of the countless other victims.

I remember sitting in my dorm room during the events of September 11 and as a college student, your feelings of invincibility can be forever shattered. It’s hard to talk to my little sister, who spent yesterday glued to the TV and facebook trying to make sure all of her friends were ok. And her tears echoed the same feelings I felt some five years ago.

Now, I haven’t ever gotten political on this site, but I have to get this off my chest this morning. As a country, we have to figure out how and why these senseless acts of violence from a young person directed to other young people continue to exist. We need to look at the impact of our lax gun control laws. We need to figure out how and why this student (who was raised in America since he was a child) slipped through the cracks. We need to seriously consider the impact that all the violence children see and experience around them has on their adult reasoning. We need to make sure that these students in the prime of their life didn’t die in vain.