Infamy

There are certain days you’ll always remember where you were. My dad tells the story that he was in school taking a test when he heard John F. Kennedy was shot. Others older than I know where they were that day too.

I remember the Columbine shooting. We were in school, so the full effect didn’t hit me until I got home and that’s all that was on TV. I wasn’t a real emotional person then, but I remember crying as I watched the students embrace outside the school. I also remember the morning of the Sept. 11 attack and sitting in class trying to figure out chemistry problems. Students were mumbling rumors about a plane hitting the World Trade Center. We thought it might have been an accident, until I got home and saw both towers billowing smoke on TV.

This week, it’s pretty hard to think of anything else but the Virginia Tech tragedy right now. Monday may also go down as one of those days I’ll remember where I was when I heard. I actually didn’t find out until fairly late in the day. Jacob and I had been in the doctor’s office and I just hadn’t bothered to turn the TV on. I was driving through Dorchester that afternoon when my mom called and told me about it. Since I have my internet home page set to a news site, the story was the first thing that blared at me when I opened the program.

The problem with events like these is all the questions. Who was the shooter? Where did he get the guns? What set him off? Could it have been prevented? But mostly, why? I guess sometimes there just aren’t enough answers, and there may never be. The best thing we can do is pray for the families of those lost, the survivors who need strength to move on and that everyone can find peace of mind in the senseless murders.

“For today, we are all Hokies.”
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On a brighter note, there finally seems to be some sort of light at the end of the tunnel on the “house” front. We may not be homeless at the end of the month after all. I spent Saturday, with my sister Kirsten, who I am eternally in debt to, painting. We painted ceilings, closets, hallways, a bedroom and even the bathroom. Unfortunately there’s more painting to be done, but we got a really good start. I picked out the colors last week after getting a little input from Nate.

“As long as it’s not too dark,” he said.

I selected a light cream color for our bedroom and hall, a not-too-nursery blue for Jacob, and a grayish green (“Gull Green”) for the bathroom. Nate likes the cream, but he’s not completely on board with the green bathroom yet. It’s not a “green” green, but more of a blue-grey-green. The name “Gull Green” is a little baffling to me..

“I’ve never seen a green gull,” I told Kirsten as we were painting.

“Maybe it’s a sea-sick gull,” she said.

Ouch. But it’s too late now, so Nate will have to learn to live with it. I think it’s already growing on him a little, though it may take a while. Kind of like Gull Green mold I guess.