Ups and downs. That's how some of the victims' families remember the past year.
While the losses and aftermath of last April's events have been extremely difficult to deal with, some families have found positive experiences throughout the year, helping them remember their loved ones and reciprocating the community's support.
"Whoa. Well it's been terrible, and at the same time it's been positive in some ways," said Bryan Cloyd, father of Austin Cloyd. "It's sort of changed my life in a way that I've been doing some things I would not have otherwise done; by doing those things. And I have been meeting with students and engaging in activities I would not have done before ... It's been a year of tremendous grief and also some sources of joy that have been unexpected."
Peter Read, father of Mary Read, has also had a similar experience.
"It's been (a) hard year; it's been an up and down year, a year of mixed blessings," Read said. "Since that time, we've had the birth of another child, the birth of another brother; it's obviously something we are happy about. There are just so many things to deal with, details that are there, and a regular life that goes on with work and school for Mary's brothers and sisters. The business of life goes on. It's hard, but there are small joys to go with the sorrow."
Reema Samaha's sister, Randa Samaha, feels that events have been continuous and non-stop, making it hard to believe a year has passed.
"The past year has been full of many ups and downs, it really feels like it just happened because all the action and everything hasn't stopped, and it has been continuous since it happened," she said. "Media stuff, ceremonies, memorials, messages, letters from random people, phone calls from other people, even more so now ... it hasn't stopped since then."
The families have become involved with various organizations for different reasons as a way to remember their loved ones.
In the past year, Bryan has primarily worked with the Appalachia Service Project, which provides housing services to low-income families living in Central Appalachia.
"This weekend will be our fifth trip down with Virginia Tech students to Jonesville, Va., where we've been working with impoverished families to repair their homes," Cloyd said. "In total we've taken about 150 students down there. We've picked that as our focus of what to do, because that was a focus of Austin's and we felt that it was something we could do, and that it was more likely to lead to a more positive outcome."
In honor of Reema, Randa and her family have been involved with several organizations as well as setting up some of their own.
The Samahas have organized the Reema J. Samaha Memorial Scholarship Fund that provides three different scholarships to students who exemplify her attributes, along with the Angel Fund, that focuses on issues related to April 16 such as mental illness, gun safety and campus safety. They have also been involved with ProtestEasyGuns.com and the Brady Campaign, which deals with gun violence.
Peter has also been involved in gun safety legislation issues along with Gov. Tim Kaine's initiatives and has supported other issues.
"We've tried to support all of the responses, particularly the governor's initiatives, mental health, privacy issues, things that are changing and have changed; we've been involved with public safety aspects of gun-related issues. That's something of great concern to us and has been close to our hearts, and we continue to worry about and watch over Mary and her friends, those that are from here and elsewhere," Read said. "Apart from the daily life and normal routines, those are the things that we've focused on."
The Cloyds have not been involved with the issues surrounding gun control.
"Gun control is such a contentious issue," Bryan said.
For Bryan, the Tech community continues to be supportive, while from the outside things have died down.
"(Support has) trickled in from a broad nationwide community. There were just loads of things for the first couple of months that has trickled down to very little things coming from people we do not know," Bryan said. "But our local community tends to be really supportive, meaning the Virginia Tech and Blacksburg community and the church; that hasn't changed."
While initially receiving a lot of attention, media coverage has since died down and now comes in waves for the Reads and the Cloyds.
"I would say the mainstream media is episodic and cyclic," Peter said.
He said that the media contacts them whenever a story runs on discussions with the governor or other decisions are made about the shootings.
"Unless there is something like that, the mainstream media tends to come back to us," Peter said. "The mainstream media tends to want to remember Mary and the other fallen Hokies only when it's driven by something else, and I think that the Tech commemoration has been appropriate on remembering these human beings and taking away the things that we can do to remember them and move on."
The Cloyds have had a similar experience, adding that there was an intrusive nature of the media at certain times.
"There have been some things that have been a little intrusive, I don't know how many times the phone has rang in the last two weeks in anticipation of April 16," Bryan said. "We've been contacted by a dozen different media people for the past two days. We haven't really seen that since back in the summer around certain events. By and large the media have been pretty good to work with, many have done stories and reports about the service project and have been supportive."
For Randa, the media has become less overwhelming than it was in the past.
"With media, at first yes, they were pretty intrusive, they were just finding any way to get to us," she said. "There were pictures of Reema's room, while we were at Tech even, because our neighbors were accidentally letting them in. But most of them are really respectful. They tend to get pushy. With my family it's different because we usually do want to speak our minds but other families don't."
One thing that Bryan has done to better remember his daughter was to set up a Facebook page so that he could see some of her photographs. He said that friends of Austin uploaded pictures to the Facebook group from the Appalachia Service Project so that he and his family could see them.
During the past year, the Reads gave birth to a baby boy, who they named Kevin Mark, because Mark was the closest thing to Mary's name they could think of for a boy.
After a stressful year, Randa, who is a nursing student at UVa, said that her professors and school have been very understanding.
"Yes, most of my teachers are pretty responsive. They all understand when I have to go home for stuff," she said.
Randa has been going home from school for different services and events because of April 16 very often.
"Last semester, I went home almost every weekend," she said. "Pretty much every weekend there was something going on for Reema or other Virginia Tech families or gun safety. Usually when I have to go home it's something involving Virginia Tech or my sister. It really still hasn't calmed much."
Keeping so busy with the different causes she is involved with and responding to support, Randa feels as though she sometimes loses perception of time.
"My time perception is off now. It has picked up more now because April 16 (is near), it feels like that time again, because I'm getting all those messages from people, it's bringing me back to that time again. Its like we moved forward, but then we hit a rewind button," she said.
While Randa is very appreciative of the support, there are times when things become overbearing.
"It's hard to tell because it's kind of unpredictable; it doesn't feel like things are being rehashed, depending on what people say and the way they've worded, it makes you feel different things," she said. "After a while, I really welcome the messages, but it wears on your emotions because you want to forget it, but I always welcome other people's prayers and messages."
On April 16, the Reads will be spending their day in Blacksburg in remembrance with the Tech community.
"My wife and I are planning to spend (April 16) with you all in Blacksburg, we were invited to be on the Steering Committee (headed by Provost Mark McNamee) in Blackburg, that's where we need to be," Peter said.
Randa will also be in Blacksburg with her family for the candlelight vigil, the ProtestEasyGuns lie-in and a dance performance in honor of Reema.