In the midmorning of a day exactly one year ago, my daughter called from school.
"Mom, just wanted to let you know that there's been a shooting on campus in one of the dormitories. I'm okay. I'm in class right now."
I remember rolling my eyes a little. The same kind of thing had happened her very first day at college in her very first class. I thought,"Oh no....not again."
Safe in the knowledge that she was fine and knowing with almost absolute certainty that her older brother was still sleeping, I went off to run my errands. What I came back to find was something entirely different.
My phone was ringing as I returned home. There were at least 15 new messages on the answering machine. I think I'd only been gone an hour or so. I turned on the tv and discovered the horrible truth. The shootings had continued in one of the academic buildings and I had no idea which building Dark Twin was in.
40 minutes of pure panic .... Utter and complete nauseating fear.... I was unable to reach her by cellphone. The circuits were overloaded with other, equally worried parents attempting to contact their children and make sure that they were okay. I finally got an email from DT telling me that she was back in her dorm and she was fine.
32 families did not get that comforting news. 32 children did not get to email their parents and reassure them that they were okay.
04-16-07
We are Virginia Tech
