I remember after the September 11th attacks, after the dust settled in Manhattan (for the most part), the steaming rubble still smoking and we were fairly certain that 6 remaining friends and classmates that I knew who were still missing were not going to be found alive, I would receive prayer vigil emails and powerpoints in my email from people or associates who didn't know that I had lost friends. Those emails would infuriate me.

Tragedy and senseless loss of life can spark a fury in people who are trying to process the events and grieve. You want to get angry, because you are angry, and something as simple as a prayer vigil sent with good intentions can trigger an explosion. It can ignite a mourner because the mourner is already frustrated and the person they want to punish, isn't around to face punishment. They are forever robbed of that. Their grief is compounded in its' public status: captured on TV and in stills or audio from now until forever. The deaths of their loved ones, something that should be so private, is public. They will forever be reminded of their loss by history.

With that acknowledgment, I'm going to embed a video here that was created to honor the victims of the VA Tech Shooter. If you are someone who is directly affected by this event, note that it is a tribute and not something you may want to watch right now. (I recommend skipping thru the upfront news images and just viewing the slides of schools showing support)

I'm embedding the video for two reasons: 1)Because I'm impressed by how quickly students of other schools who are users of social media like Facebook responded to the tragedy and stepped up the plate using social media tools to show VA Tech students, victims and their families that the rest of the university world stands behind them with love and support regardless of sporting and academic competitions; and 2) because I want to join that support network.

I'm a hokie now too.