Virginia Tech Grieving

Lots of thoughts. Sadness, confusion.

I don't know anyone from Virginia Tech. I don't think I could possibly find any links to any of them. Yet, I feel incredibly close. As a student, as the leader of a student organization, as a recently nationalized American. When the death toll began to climb on Monday, I was shocked. When final reports came in, I understood that 33 dead were a lot of people, a lot of families. But it didn't sink in until this morning, when I saw a collage with the pictures and brief descriptions of each of the victims....Gasp.

It's almost as if he had chosen at least one member representing each community in America. Each part of this country... Whites, Blacks, Hispanics, Asians, Indians, Middle Eastern, French, in the military, young and old. "Alameddinne, Clark, Couture-Nowak, Lee, Nebrescu, Loganathan, McCain, Ortiz, Shaalan, White, Unidentified..." and the list goes on. Did he pick them? Did he shoot at random, or did he try to find at least one person from each minority, from each ethnic group?

I don't know what to think, I don't know what to say. I feel strangely American today. Proud, confused, sad...