Sunday, April 16, 2017

Happy Easter, And A Sad Anniversary

Today is a day of mixed emotions.  As a Christian, I celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ on the day known as Easter Sunday.  Before today is over, I'll spend some time with my extended family, which might include watching its younger members hunt for plastic Easter eggs.  However, today is also the tenth anniversary of the mass shooting at Virginia Tech.  I don't know if the phrase "tragic irony" truly describes this coincidence, but it's probably the best term I can think of.

On April 16, 2007, I was at work, using my computer to produce what was then called "paper work".  As I often did back then, I took a break to browse the Internet, which took me to TechSideline, a site dedicated to Virginia Tech sports.  The site included (and still includes) several message boards, over which the horrible events of that day started to be reported.  It seemed that every time I went back to the site, the number of people who had been killed would increase.  Trying to get any work done soon became almost impossible.  When it was all over, 32 people been killed by a mentally ill student, who afterwards took his own life.  In the aftermath, my alma mater was shown a great amount of sympathy from numerous other college communities and sports organizations.  Here are a few related stories from the last few days:

From Virginia Tech's website, "We remember".

From U.S. News & World Report, "When campus safety changed forever", which features a survivor of the Virginia Tech shooting.

From NBC Washington, families mark the 10-year anniversary.

From The Roanoke Times, Virginia Tech "still never forgets", including numerous links (via TSL, above).

From the Richmond Times-Dispatch, "heartbreaking memories remain" (also via TSL).

From the Washingtonian, "Virginia Tech, ten years later".

From WRIC, the shooting still haunts the superintendent of the Virginia State Police.

From the Culpeper Star-Exponent, a survivor is now a new father.

From WAVY, a look at what has changed and what hasn't changed since the shooting.

And finally, a cartoon which came out not long after the shooting, symbolizing the sympathy from other college communities around Virginia.

Happy Easter, and neVer forgeT.

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