Never Forget

Whether for solemn events or joyous occasions in our lives, anniversaries are times to remember. They are times to travel back, in our mind, and recall. Today, for example, is my parents anniversary. Also, today is the 61st Anniversary of Jackie Robinson breaking the color barrier in baseball. While these are two very different events both are historically significant in nature and both lead to thought. The first event leads directly to the birth of yours truly and with that the birth of good times as we know them. It makes me think of my parents. I think of their younger days together and their happiness as they fell in love. I marvel at how long they have been in each others lives and how amazing it is they are still in love. And I laugh at the thought that they, at this ignorantly blissful time in their lives, had no idea THE SHZA and his mischievous tendencies was in their future. The second event makes me think of how recently ignorance was at such a height that it was irregular for people of different races to share a field of play. It makes me wonder how far we come. It makes me think reverently of Jackie, of his bravery to take the path never traveled. How hard it must have been. Many will wear his number, 42, in his honor….but ,I believe, it is enough to simply remember. These anniversaries mark either joyous days or momentous honorable achievements…all do not.

Tomorrow is April 16th and makes another Anniversary. It was a dark day in a town close to my heart just one year ago. Last year inexplicable violence took place on a campus and in a town that truly didn’t see it coming. A place seemingly invulnerable to the madness which occurred. 32 innocent, young, and as we found out gifted, lives were lost.

I still struggle to wrap my head around this event…and often when I think of the tragedy I get sad or flat out angry. For much too long I dwelt on the pain caused by such cowardness. I thought about how, to many people, the town and college where I grew into a man and found many lifelong friends, found inspiration and guidance for my future, where I found myself will always be the “place where that shooting happened”. But now, on the anniversary of such a hideous I look back and recall and remember so much else. My mind is filled with images of some many good things.

I recall a student body standing together, in pain, but together on a drill field I’ve walked too many times, candles held high. I remember the stories. The stories of bravery during the viscous attacks. The stories of the incredible lives led before they were cut too early. I think of all the love shown to the VT community. A stadium filled with Penn State students clad in orange and burnt amber. Red Sox warming up with for a game wearing Tech hats. A VT on the field at Yankee stadium. Such support. I will never forget the support. I recall A Rod in the Hokie dugout during a visit to town. I remember, as I think back a year later, Nikki Giovanni’s speech (We are Virginia Tech). I think of Drew Weaver golfing for 32. I remember crying, as 32 orange balloons hover above Lane stadium, while the Tech Football Team mounts the field while Enter Sandman blares on the loudspeaker during the first Tech home game, our first chance to be together since the attacks. I look back now and remember, once again, how precious life is. How precious time is and especially time with whom we love.
Many people will commemorate this day in different ways. We all heal and remember in our own way. But, it is just too important to never forget. I believe it is enough to remember. Always.