Virginia Tech, 6 Months Later

Virginia Tech, and Blacksburg, the quaint little town surrounding it, will always feel the most like home to me. The events of April 16, 2007 will forever be a scar on my heart, but will never tarnish the place or the memories that I accumulated while attending college there.

Earlier this month, the day before the six-month anniversary of Seung-Hui Cho's deadly assault on Virginia Tech, my two-year-old daughter ran across the Drillfield for the first time. It was a beautiful day, the sun was shining, it was about eighty degrees and there were several games of flag football and ultimate Frisbee going on. But in the middle of all this typical college life, there was a sad, beautiful reminder of why we had driven nearly three hours to be there.

Thirty-two square lime stones, Hokie stones, engraved with 32 names of those lost on that terrible day. Thirty-two stones arranged in a semi-circle around a wreath, surrounded by while pebbles and a walkway with several signs explaining the reason for such a tribute-like any of us could forget. Thirty-two promising lives snuffed out before their full potential had been reached. Behind the memorial rises the mighty castle-like silhouette of Burruss Hall, the main administrative building...and to the right of that Norris Hall where most of the killing occurred. The sign is down and the police tape is gone, but those of us who went there know what it is.

So I turn back around and face the buzz of life going on around me. The well-worn paths between the classrooms and the dorms are still being tread on, the Duck Pond glistens in the distance, the Blacksburg Transit busses still move around the Drillfield like clockwork. Yes, life goes on, as it should.

I look back down at my daughter. She doesn't realize the significance of where we stand, she only wants to join in the games going on around her. Right now, to her, VT is a magnet that she likes to play with on Grandma's fridge; VT is sticker on Mommy's car; VT is the design on Pappy's hat and Daddy's shirt. VT is just a symbol to her now, but it is my hope that she learns to love this place as much as I do, and one day run across this Drillfield because she is late to class. I hope that she knows a VT without fear and sadness, but of remembrance...of a VT without a Norris Hall, but with a Librescu Hall; A VT that looks back, but keeps moving on.