Listening, hugs included
CT Features Staff
April 18, 2007
Last night, the wind eerily howled--shaking walls and roofs--as if in reaction to the events that took place on an unusually cold Monday in April. Then day broke and clouds parted to blue skies, alluding that times of trouble had passed. Yet, the reign of sadness puddled from the day before continued ... and will continue in Blacksburg.
Orange and maroon students speckled the town landscape as they walked in scattered masses to Cassell Coliseum. The scene resembled a sporting game day, yet no game was to be played. Instead, a convocation was to be held for students, family and faculty mourning the losses of the fallen.
"Are those your colors? Orange and maroon?" a photographer asked a passing group of students. The Hokies politely smiled, nodded and continued their march.
Instead of the usual cheer associated with wearing these colors of orange and maroon, faces were drawn taught and sniffles were muffled by the wind. Students walked in determined silence past yellow police tape lapping in the wind ‰¥" another reminder of Monday's events.
And while some took an earlier stand to unite in Cassell, she sits and waits just a little longer before entering the arched doorways of the coliseum. She waits on a bench overlooking the Lyric Theater with a handwritten poster above her head that said, "Need to talk, I will listen, (free hugs)."
There may be irony in sitting across from a place where fiction plays on a silver screen; however, there was deep sincerity in Kiera Cass's poster and her willingness to try and do her part in the events playing out in reality.
Cass is married to a man who works for the university and feels very connected to what happened. Monday's event inspired her to take action in the form of lending an ear and hug to those who needed to talk as they walked toward Cassell for the convocation.
"I got the urge, and I felt like maybe there was a need," Cass said. "Some people just don't have anybody to talk to or maybe are afraid to go to counseling because that is such a big step. I thought, I'm a stranger, I'm a nobody, I'm no one to be afraid of, so I will just make myself available," Cass said.
"And if there is no need for anyone to talk to me, that's a good thing. It means there is someone for them to talk to."
Cass knows all too well the feelings of loss from those who died Monday.
"Last night it turned out that someone I knew had passed, and we had to be close to each other then," Cass said.
She empathizes with those who have also lost a loved one.
"It's a great thing if you can get out there and fill the need for strangers," Cass said. "This is the time."
For Cass, helping others is a way of coping with a situation few have to deal with.
"I worry a lot less about myself if I'm taking care of somebody else," Cass said.
Helping others is Cass's way of taking down the yellow tape and starting the healing process.