Chardon School Tragedy

"A third student has died." These words on Tuesday hit me like a blow to my heart. How could this be? How could even one student be dead? This was in Chardon, practically right next door. My thoughts immediately turned to the murder of my niece this last summer. She was older than these students from Chardon, but she was still so young, and her life was cut tragically short. So I know it happens. Why, then, does this new catastrophe hurt and shock so much?

Three students have died, one is still in the hospital, and one has been released from the hospital. How could this have happened here? Why does this happen at all? How does our society and lifestyle contribute to this, if at all? Or have there always been troubled kids, but they haven't had the means to act out so violently? How do we keep our kids safe from such violence? And from committing such violence? Is it even possible?

The big question—should guns be banned? I don't think so. There would then be as much illegal trafficking in guns as there is in drugs. We have to do the best we can in providing kids with safe places and in recognizing and helping kids who need help.

The killer did not kill himself, and is in custody. Maybe if they (whoever they are) can talk to him, they can begin to understand why someone, especially a young person, would do this. Does it have anything to do with the fact that a teenager's brain isn't fully developed yet? Is there something in a young person's lifestyle we should be watching for? If the family did not have guns would it have made a difference? We will never know. We can only hurt for the families who have lost so much, for the students who will never forget, for the teachers trying to deal with the aftermath, and for the community that has lost so much.

Reunion

One of my high school classmates is coming into town in June to visit.  He has said that he would like to get together with as many classmates as can be rounded up in one place and at one time, so we are having a luncheon for him.  I know that I will end up going, although I will be uncomfortable.  It will be the same thing as high school -- everyone else will be so self assured and confident of doing the right things, of acting the right way, of saying the right words.  Then there will be me.  I never knew exactly what to say or how to act when we were in school a hundred years ago, and I know I will revert to that person all these years later.  Or maybe I still am that person.  I am afraid that I will sit by myself and not say much at all, and everyone will realize that I am as dull as ever.

 I also know it is important to keep in touch with people from your youth, but I'm not sure why. Maybe because they know you best -- scary thought.  Or maybe it's because they don't know you at all, and you want to prove that you have actually been successful in life, even if no one thought it would be possible.  Wouldn't that be the puzzle:  how could I, who is so dull and boring, have been fairly successful in my career?  How could I have had a career at all?

But I am going, and that is that.  I will get to see two or three people that I haven't seen for years; I hope I recognize them.  And, against all odds, I could even end up having a nice time.