To the Editor:
Monday afternoon I realized the weather was beautiful here, almost as beautiful as it was Sept. 11 in Washington, D.C. And just like then, I’m not really sure what to say.
I know a lot of people who go to Virginia Tech — probably more than 50 — but I’m only good friends with half a dozen or so. I only know 0.2 percent of the Tech undergrad population. They are all healthy and safe and alive. They all know people who aren’t.
My friend, Caitlin, sat in lockdown for two hours in French class in a building connected to Norris Hall and heard the gunshots. Nobody could find Mike, an engineering student, for several hours. Abby’s and Ryan’s friend, Heidi, was shot in the leg. Kelly’s RA is dead.
Our parents faced tragedy, too. From Vietnam to JFK, MLK, RFK — the letters begin to run together. Now, they face the paralyzing fear of getting the horrible call 33 families got Monday.
Our pain is different. We saw Columbine at age 11, Sept. 11 at 13, the sniper at 14, Katrina at 17. We saw bombings in Kenya, London and Madrid; we saw the tsunami. We have grown up with the idea that it could be us — it could be Nick’s UNC, Lauren’s Mizzou, my Virginia Tech, our Vanderbilt. We’re not desensitized to this — at least I don’t think we are — but we’re not surprised either.
The moment I knew my friends were fine, I knew someone else was finding out their friends weren’t, someone’s parents were finding out their child was not coming home. How many more of these days will we see? How many more of us will die? Why us?
Those who died weren’t perfect; they were just like us. They went to class and parties. They had career goals and doubts. They succeeded and they failed. They were us. That’s the real horror in this awful massacre. We’re not perfect, but we don’t deserve this. No one does. We don’t have to be valiant heroes, saints or anything like that. We’re going to disagree and going make plenty of mistakes. I don’t think tragedies like these can be left aside; we need to be stronger, better, kinder after this because we have to make this mean something. The fallen deserve better. We have to stick together, for them and for ourselves.
All we can do is remember this life is what we have together — with our friends and our families. It’s not grand gestures that keep us together; it’s every day. Small acts of kindness, short prayers and simple words of gratitude can change a lot. We’re not all the same, and that makes us stronger, but we do share a country, a past and — God willing — a future together. We can’t forget to love each other because, if we don’t, we may regret it later.
We lost too many of us the other day. So, for Monday, this week, next week, next month, next year, we’ll all be Hokies.
Katherine Miller
Freshman, A&S
