Thirteen Years Later

A lot of people in high school, college, and just people in general see today as a day to get high since it's 4/20. However, I wonder how many of them actually realize that "420" is police code for marijuana.

Anyway, that's not the point of my blog today. Today is a different day. Today is a day of remembrance. Today marks the anniversary of the Columbine Massacre.

Thirteen years ago today, radios and televisions were broadcasting about a fatal school shooting. The country sat in silence as the story about Columbine High School continued to develop. People questioned why these two young boys would do something like this. People cried. People were mad. People were...overwhelmed.

Personally, I cannot tell you what I felt this day. I was only six at the time. However, I can recall going through a phase where I loved reading the Chicken Soup for the Soul stories and stumbling upon several that kept talking about this school shooting. I was intrigued. "Why would someone do this? What happened? When did this happen? Where did it happen?"

I took it upon myself to look up the information. I found articles from newspapers, I found stories about it that the survivors wrote...but the most disturbing to me was the video footage that I found posted on YouTube. At first, I thought it couldn't be. It was some mock video. I was wrong. There in black and white was the actual surveillance videos from the high school cameras. As I sat there watching those two boys terrorize the students and faculty, I felt my heart and stomach drop. I just sat there, stunned by what I saw. Flashes from the gun shots and bombs going over. Mini fires. I cannot even begin to imagine what was going through the minds of those students trapped and the faculty. I wanted to stop watching the videos, stop reading the articles...but it was like a car wreck...I couldn't look away. As I continued my own research, I cried and prayed for the families.

Sure, it may have been years ago. However, you know those families are still affected by it today. Children's lives were lost that day, along with one of the teachers. On April 20, 1999...fifteen lives were lost. Twelve students and one teacher. Then the boys turned the guns on themselves and committed suicide. May God bless their souls and be with their families on a day like that.



The above picture shows all the victims from the Columbine Massacre.
So today...instead of thinking, "Oh let's get high!" or "How many people are getting high?" Think about the lives that were lost on this day, or the thousands of people who are doing everything in their power to make sure that you are still here today.

Thank you.