Letter: At a loss for words
Letter to the Editor
April 20, 2007
"Condolences" is such a watered down word in comparison to the events that took place at Virginia Tech that I don't want to even use it. "Sorry" doesn't match up with the physical ache I feel in my heart when I think about what happened to these sons, daughters, fathers, mothers, sisters and brothers who never saw it coming and shouldn't have had to anyway. "My sympathies" sounds ridiculous in the face of what the survivors, friends and families of these victims will have to carry with them for the rest of their lives. I honestly don't know what to say but that it hurts to know that man at his most depraved is actually capable of doing something like this. I don't know any of the victims, I don't know the survivors, I don't know the families... I don't even know anybody in or from Virginia, but there's still this tiny common thread of humanity that doesn't ask for a pang of grief. It demands an outpouring of absolute heartbreak, because as a fellow human being I don't feel I have any right not to share in this sadness.
That being said, I just wanted to share something I've been thinking about over the last few days. Is it too soon to start trying to look for something positive to come out of everything that's gone on? If it is, my humble apologies, please disregard the rest. If you're as desperate as me to find a light where there doesn't appear to be any right now, read on...
Something that I think has probably been, or will be on the minds of a lot of the students and faculty caught in the cross-fire but left alive is the question, "Why me, why am I still here?" Even way up north in Canada here, so far separated from this tragedy, I had to stop and wonder what makes ME so special that I've never had to go through something like this. I settled on this; there's no magic pill, there's no invisible shield, there's nothing that protects one person from grief while leaving another to walk through it. We are all the same and this or something LIKE this could, sadly, happen to anyone, anywhere at any time.
Where does that leave us if not in a constant state of fear?
It leaves us with the opportunity and responsibility of invoking the childhood rite of "Do-Over." I mean, you can't really turn back the clock. You can't change past events which shape your lives, but you can take the second chance and not let a day go by where you don't think about how grateful you are for your family, your friends, your job, a warm bed and whatever else. If you don't know what to be grateful for, or it's too hard to see past the hurt of it all yet, just take a deep breath and be thankful you could.
My most heart-felt prayers and hopes for healing go to all of you. I wish I had more to give.
Megan Callaghan
British Columbia, Canada