Remembering...

Last week saw two ten year anniversaries:

The shooting in Columbine, Colorado, and, a few short days later, a copycat shooting in Taber, Alberta.

Both impacted me greatly at the time, and continue to have an impact today.

I was in high school at the time. My school, like so many others, was on high alert. We had bomb threats called in, and the general dis-ease of having the security of someplace that should be safe challenged.

The boy killed in Taber was a pastor's son. There were so many similarities in his situation to my own. The testimony of his father in the days following his death was hugely impacting. A few years later, in university, I received a memorial bursary set up in the boy's name.

Ten years. I reacted strongly on the tenth anniversary of the Columbine shooting. I was with a friend, and heard the news on the radio, and felt my insides clench, "Is that today?"

There was a certain urgency in that, a memory that came back so strongly.

I read the following two articles in the last few days, and was struck by each.

My Columbine

Taber Shooting "real awakening" for Canadian Schools