Columbine Stories Need To Be Told

Today is the 24th anniversary of "Columbine". It just doesn't seem that long ago when so many lives were irrevocably altered in a manner that a lot of folks have said they just cannot imagine happening to themselves.

We'll be seeing a lot of remembrances on a lot of people's social media pages today. That's as it should be. After all, 13 precious lives were taken that day.

I usually share some kind of remembrance on this day, as well. This year I'll also focus on a "thank you". 

Thank you to everyone engaged in talking about their own experiences and memories of that day. Thank you for doing that no matter how brief you decide to be or how lengthy, no matter how traumatic it might be for you emotionally to share your thoughts and your feelings about what went on that day.....for you.

That's something that I believe all too often gets kind of lost in the story that quite literally defined the way in which this particular massacre is presented....that the ripple effects go far, far, far beyond those families whose children were so violently wrenched from them that day alongside the families whose children were so violently and critically injured, some of which injuries required extensive hospital stays, months of rehabilitation, and a lifetime of working toward a level of healing, both physically and emotionally, that many of us cannot even begin to wrap our own heads around.

The ripple effects simply do not end there. Those ripples extend out far beyond those we've become very familiar with. Those ripples extend to everyone there that day: students, teachers, administrators, first responders, parents, community, nation, and even the world, itself. 

The spotlight, as it were, has rarely been focused on the stories of those not there that day or on those who were there that day but not physically injured or their families. 

I belong to several community pages and support groups, the members of which have been sharing those very memories and experiences.

They weren't there that day, but they knew someone who was.

Or they knew someone who knew someone who was.

They may not have been there that day, but the images they saw affected them deeply on an emotional level. They hugged their own kids a little tighter, and whispered an "I love you" in their children's ear as they tucked them into bed that night.

They may not have been there that day, but they were so affected by what they saw that they decided they had to make a difference....somehow.

Or, they were there that day and were left physically unharmed but emotionally scarred by what they saw, by what they experienced.

Those are the stories, the experiences, the memories that are so often not being told.

I can't remember how many times I've seen posts about Columbine in groups I belong to whose members talk about these very things, I sit back and marvel at how brutally honest these folks usually are. I marvel at how this event affected THEM. It almost makes me cry. 

The raw emotions that still swirl around the events of April 20, 1999 are palpable still. I've learned something I don't ever want to forget....that empathy is alive and well after all.

I'd known in my heart of hearts this massacre had affected people outside of that inner circle of folks directly affected by this massacre. Even today, folks talk about it as if it's some kind of bellwether event for other mass school shootings. My experience in talking about it and inviting others to do so is emotional in and of itself. That experience helped me to realize none of what happened is about any single individual or group of people. What happened that day is about everyone. How could it be any less?

So, it is to those folks I say thank you. Thank you for doing that. Thank you for sharing your stories. 

Your stories need to be told. Your stories matter.

We are ALL Columbine!

My two cents.

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