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The NIU Shootings
Feb. 17th, 2008 12:30 pmToday we slept in until 8 am. I guess that’s the only concession that the tragedy gets. We ate breakfast and took care of Caitlin. Laundry will get done, and dishes will be cleaned. The mundane must continue.
I didn’t know any of the victims of the NIU shootings. I vaguely knew one of the people in the class from a committee that we were both on over the summer, but that was as personal as it got for me. My wife called before a single news report was made, so I was never worried for her safety.
And yet, I am part of this community. We’re a small town. I know numerous students, faculty, and staff at NIU. I’ve talked baseball with the University President. We are all connected, and this violated us all. All of us grieve together, because the victims were part of our family.
This was a senseless act by an individual who harbored a deep mental illness. I’ve watched the reporters scurry around my town trying to find the reason why it happened. They will fail. This was a terrible act that spun out of a young man’s broken neural pathways. It was a random, horrible moment for which nobody could have prepared.
I’m proud of how NIU, DeKalb, and the people from around the world have come together to respond and heal. There will be memorials and remembrances. And finally, the mundane will continue; the mundane aspects of life that five wonderful human beings should have had before them. My thoughts and prayers go out to their friends and families.
I didn’t know any of the victims of the NIU shootings. I vaguely knew one of the people in the class from a committee that we were both on over the summer, but that was as personal as it got for me. My wife called before a single news report was made, so I was never worried for her safety.
And yet, I am part of this community. We’re a small town. I know numerous students, faculty, and staff at NIU. I’ve talked baseball with the University President. We are all connected, and this violated us all. All of us grieve together, because the victims were part of our family.
This was a senseless act by an individual who harbored a deep mental illness. I’ve watched the reporters scurry around my town trying to find the reason why it happened. They will fail. This was a terrible act that spun out of a young man’s broken neural pathways. It was a random, horrible moment for which nobody could have prepared.
I’m proud of how NIU, DeKalb, and the people from around the world have come together to respond and heal. There will be memorials and remembrances. And finally, the mundane will continue; the mundane aspects of life that five wonderful human beings should have had before them. My thoughts and prayers go out to their friends and families.
