A Hokie Today

Sirens.  Lots of them, all day, unrelenting.  That's the first thing that enters my mind when I remember the events of April 16th, 2007.  The sirens and the unsettling, anxious feeling of knowing something terrible must be happening.  What was it?  Where?  Who?

I was sitting in my doctor's office hardly able to breathe for the sinus crud.  Then the news on the waiting room television really took my breath way.  "Would you please turn up the volume?" someone asked.  Then, more emphatically, "turn it up, turn it up!"  Frightening images of police officers wielding large weapons on the Virginia Tech campus, just a mile down the road.  Sketchy details of a shooting, and a shooter still on the loose.  Warnings for everyone on campus and in the town of Blacksburg to stay indoors.  Lockdowns for our children in their schools.

By late afternoon we all found ourselves in a state of shock.  Thirty-two innocent victims dead, others wounded, and a shooter who had taken his own life.  Unimaginable horror.  Here, in sleepy little Blacksburg.  Could this be real?

Today I will renew my prayers for the families and friends of those who died.  For those who were left injured and otherwise traumatized.  For the police and rescue personnel who will always carry with them horrible, unspeakable images.  For all of Virginia Tech and the town of Blacksburg.  And I think I will make an effort to leave a little trail of kindness around town today.  Like the person ahead of me in the Starbucks line did two days after "that day" five years ago, buying a gift card and leaving it with the cashier to treat others until the card ran out, just to show that there was still goodness in the world.  A small gesture with a big impact.

Today my daughters have donned their Hokie attire for Hokie Spirit day at school. My husband wore his Virginia Tech golf shirt to work. As for me, this die-hard Georgia Bulldog is sporting a Hokie t-shirt. None of us have any affiliation with the university other than the fact that we live in Blacksburg. And if you lived in Blacksburg on that horrific day five years ago, you will always be a little bit of a Hokie in your heart. You couldn't live here and not experience the heartache, the grief, the anger. We all have a story of "that day." We all still get a little anxious when we hear sirens that go on a little too long. We all knew...someone.  And by the grace of God, we all will prevail.