It’s hard to believe that it’s been three years already. I’m currently typing this in my basement at home in Atlanta, 425+ miles from the room of Vawter Hall where I sat up in my bunk bed to a phone call at around 10:20 am. The call was from my mom and she was, surprisingly, not at all nervous or distraught sounding given the news she was about to deliver.
Mom: “Where are you?”
Me: “Crap. I’m in my room. I overslept by 10 minutes. I’ll just go turn in my homework at the end of class around 11:00.”
Mom: “No, the news says there’s been a shooting on campus, you should stay in your room. Go turn on the TV.”
I bolted out of bed and flipped on CNN only to see that I was not in that half dreamy la-la land where you think everything you hear is not the truth or not what you’re actually hearing. I woke up my roommate, Jason, who I believe had an off day that day. As soon as I mentioned what my mom had said he had the same reaction. The numbers were streaming in and it seemed hard to believe that not more than 200 yards away in two directions there had been not 1, 2, or 5 murders, but a grand total of THIRTY-TWO.
It didn’t really honestly sink in until around midnight of that night…I guess nothing really does when it comes as THAT MUCH of a shock. At midnight I sat down and looked at a few of the facebook groups I had joined during the day. One in particular had about 150-200 pictures of a black ribbon, VT logo, and a logo of just about every school imaginable. I saw everything from colleges as large as West Virginia and Southern Cal, to schools as small as West Georgia and a handful of community colleges. It was at THAT point, probably over 14 hours after the last shot was fired, that my eyes became a bit moist.
Three years have passed since that day, that night, that hectic period of time where I received phone calls, emails, wall posts, and text messages from just about everyone I know or have come in contact with in my life. The texts came in spurts of 10-15 every 20 minutes due to the back up of the local cell phone towers. Some more frantic than others, especially when they received no quick response due to the overloading. The blood stains that were still so VERY visible months later when school resumed in August have finally faded from the sidewalk in front of the bus stop. The windows in Norris are finally closed after about a month of being open. The memorial is now permanent.
I walk by the building every Tuesday on my way to a Modern Military History class. I think I’ve had a class in the immediately adjacent (heck, they’re connected) building at least 3 of the last 6 semesters. I attempt to think of other things every time I pass by but it doesn’t matter how much I do so because I’ll never be able to…but maybe it’s best that way.
Rest in Peace 32…You were Hokies once, and will forever remain Hokies. neVer forgeT.
