Its hard to believe its now a year distant, that terrible massacre at Tech (we Hokies always just refer to it as just "Tech").  Last year at this time I was sitting here at this very spot frantically searching for news of what was happening down on my beloved Alma Mater's campus.  I was repeatedly shocked, to say the least, as the news kept being updated as to how many young lives had been snuffed.  Where would it end? 

We now know where it ended, in a terrible tradgedy for 32 fellow Hokies.  Even though I had never met a one of them, I knew each of them.  They are Hokies, they are family. Our campus home had been violated and it somehow will never be the same.  In addition to the warm memories and smiles it brings to go back and visit there now will also always be a tear as we set foot on campus.

Below is something I wrote June 28 of 2007, after my first visit back to the campus since the tradgedy.  I believe it reveals the grief I I hold in my heart for my fellow Hokies, their families and friends.

"Yesterday and today, I made my first visit back to my Alma Mater since the shooting rampage. The occasion was my son's participation in the State FFA convention held there every summer.

Before we attended the Wed. night session in Burrus Hall, We had occasion to visit the site of memorial to the slain students being built across from the entrance to Burrus. There is a stone set aside for each student just outside the fence as a temporary memorial. Each stone has a candle lit every night. Amazingly friends and strangers are still bringing and placing momentous at each. Someone is taking the trouble to place fresh flowers on the stones each day. There are coins, hand penned and typed poems, letters, books, favorite things, silk flowers and more. It was very moving and I was humbled by the outpouring of grief and hope expressed at this site. With my hat in hand, I visited each stone and couldn't hold back tears as I went from one to another. I knew none of these victims, yet the common bond of being "Hokies" was enough to ignite intense grief. The majority of the 32 were students the ages of my children.... full of promise that will never be fulfilled. When we emerged from the Hall that night, everyone hushed as they passed the stones.

The University has set up a temporary exhibit of all the items brought and placed in memorial along with all the cards and posters and notes sent to express heartfelt concern. The exhibit is in a large cafeteria that is going unused for the summer- the very cafeteria I ate in daily for two years some 35 years ago. We entered the mezzanine which overlooks the exhibit area. The entire lower level of the hall was filled with the memorial expressions offered to the slain, the families and the Tech community. I don't know the dimensions, but it is a space where I expect a thousand or two dine at a sitting.

We descended the steps. There were maybe a dozen others present. It was silent.... absolutely silent. Around two walls were 32 tables that held the accumulated mementos left at each victim’s outdoor memorial since the shootings. As might be expected, there were varying amounts of things left for each, but one thing stood out.... there has been a great out pouring of grief, concern and love expressed by friends, family, and strangers. Favorite items, pictures, numerous open letters, poems, books, Bibles, prayers, coins, medallions, flowers, ribbons you name it. Some people had taken the trouble to write something to each and every victim and their family, even though they didn't know them. There were letters from schools friends, old friends back home, Students in elementary, middle and high schools as well as numerous college campuses. These tables were only for items left for each individual. The University of Maryland Softball team autographed and sent a ball for each victim.

The rest of the room was crammed with row after row of tables and panels of the out pouring of a shocked nation and world. So may posters with signatures from colleges across our land. So many cards and letters expressing grief and solidarity with the Virginia Tech community.

This exhibit was overwhelming to me. I took the time to visit each of the victim’s tables and read their names and from the mementos on each try to get a feel for what they were like. After I did this I started to view the huge display of support, you a shocked nation sent. It was half way through this most cursory perusal that I simply had to walk out the door. This event has touched me in a way like no other tragedy has. From the very first reports I heard, I knew we Hokies would never be the same, yet I also knew that we would band together like never before. The shooter too, has been afforded a place in the memorial exhibits. I saw prayers there for him and his family also. He was a Hokie too.

I'd like to offer my thanks to any of you who offered prayers for the victims, their families and the Hokie community. If you happen to be a person who sent something, gosh, I am still speechless about the outpouring. Please continue to pray for the families and friends of the victims.... they still need it! "

I sit here again with tears on my cheeks.  Time I know, will take the tears away, but it will never remove the confidence lost because of that fateful day.

Wes