This Valentines Day marks the one year anniversary of the NIU campus shootings. It's hard to believe. We see this kind of senseless violence in the news so often, I think we're numb to it happening. We hear about it, shake our heads and move on with our day not really thinking about the lives impacted. It always happens to other people, other schools, other families. Not to us. That was the case for me until February 14, 2008.
I remember it being a normal day at home doing school with the kids. The phone rang sometime after 3:30 or so and it was my cousin. She asked me if I was watching the news and if I had heard anything from my brother. My younger brother Ben was in his final year at NIU for graphic design and was really looking forward to graduating. When I turned on the tv I could not even comprehend what my eyes were seeing. It was surreal. Panic came over me when I realized that this wasn't just some other shooting at some other school. It was NIU. I could hardly make my fingers dial his cell. When he didn't answer my heart just sank. I couldn't remember if he was in class or working. Was he safe??? Finally, after dialing several more times he answered. He was at work on campus, but locked in the stock room with the other employees. After hearing gunshots and getting emails on their phones from classmates and campus officials, they did what they could to protect themselves. After the gunman was identified and everyone knew it was over, he was able to make it back to his apartment. He was safe, thank God. But someone else's brother wasn't. Someone else's sister, son or best friend was gone forever.
My family had the priviledge of watching my brother go up on stage in his cap and gown to get his diploma last May. We also watched the parents of the slain victims get their children's diplomas. The memory of that has never left me. I am grateful every day for the chance to pick up the phone and talk to my brother and have a relationship with him. The outcome could have been very different and I know that. While I don't want to dwell on this tragedy, it's been on my mind especially the closer it gets to the one year mark. I can only imagine how hard it has been for the families directly involved. Lots of memorial services are taking place one year later at NIU to lift up those affected and honor those who were lost. There were also quite a few slideshows made in the wake of the shootings, but there was one that really touched me and I wanted to share it.
http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=544696387219&oid=7880939436
It is my prayer that one year later, the pain and fear have lessened for the people of NIU.
