A Moment to Reflect- Becoming Part of a Hokie Nation

I haven't posted in nearly a week,and what week it was. A long-time friend and colleague of mine from Jefferson Lab is moving on to a new life in the Washington DC area and we had been planning a party for her ( and about 60 of her closest friends) that had me spending 3 solid days as a "white tornado" getting my house in shape. The day of the party... Monday April 16, 2007. As I was finishing last preparations, I kept the television on watching, trying to absorb what was happening only hours away in Blacksburg. I have to tell you that I have terrible timing for taking a day off. I was working a half day after Molly's birth and preparing to go in for my half-day when the Oklahoma City bombing happened. I had taken the day off on 9/11. Those infamous days I was, like everyone else, glued to the TV, not wanting to watch, but unable to turn away.

But this day was different... Blacksburg is so close... I have children the ages of many of the shooter's victims... Like most Virginians, I have friends, and my kids have friends who attended or are attending Virginia Tech. How do I deal with it, and help my children deal with yet another bout of random violence. How do I carry on with a party, when so many families are dealing with the unspeakable horror of losing a child, or brother, or father, or sister?

We did have our party... we would not have another opportunity to honor our friend and colleague. We did the only thing that can be done in the face of this type of tragedy...we lived. We talked, we laughed, we ate, we remembered a person we cared about and who would be leaving us and our organization. It was a nice party in the midst of a world and day that did not make sense.

Friday, some VT alumni at Jefferson Lab organized our participation in Hokie Hope day, bringing their entire stock of Hokie wear to share with others who wanted to show love and support, making Maroon and orange ribbons, and taping Va Tech banners to their office and cubicle doors. We gathered together and took a few moments out of our work day,watched a slide show of remembrances for the students and faculty that took place at universities all over the world, and finally, as it approached noon we saw the faces of the victims, projected on the screen... their smiles, their enthusiasm, their lives... In our silence we prayed and reflected upon this act of needless violence and lifted these special people up in our thought and prayers.It was a special moment that bonded us together in a way that only tragedy can. And we left with the words of Virginia Tech poet Nikki Giovanni stating... "We will prevail". It is true that we will prevail... hope will prevail... love will prevail... indeed it must, here, in the Hokie nation.