I opened up Facebook this morning. I go in order, email, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, blahgs, then I get to do the xword and spelling bee.

So what was on Facebook today? One, two, three, four, five, six(?) in a row pictures of Sparty, the MooU mascot, with a tear dripping from his eye. There were NO WORDS in any of them. I was like “What the heck?” I mean I figured it was probably some kind of shooting. Because they happen just about every other day nowadays. But I had to go way down the page to find a link or anything that said what happened. If you are going to post a picture like that, at least link to an article or write a few words about it.

This tragedy became more personal for me than others have. I didn’t know any of the victims at all but there were fewer degrees of separation between me and one of them than usual. A young cousin of mine coaches volleyball in Clawson, a northwest Detroit suburb where the GG once had an apartment. One of the victims had been on her team as a high school student. And then when I joined the daily standup meeting, talk soon turned to the tragedy and I was reminded that three of my colleagues have children at MSU. Fortunately all of their children are safe.

Columbine High wasn’t the first but it’s the first my memory can dredge up. I had a daughter at our own Community High then and a friend and I were walking when a neighbor came up to us and asked if we’d heard about the shooting at Columbine High. We mis-heard “Columbine” as “Community”. What a jolt! But nothing had happened at Community and my kid was safely home from school via the city bus when I got there.

I don’t have any words. I’m not going to make some kind of incoherent political rant. If I could manage to get my words out straight they wouldn’t change anyone else’s mind. Even if they did, there are crayzees out there on both ends of the spectrum, those who shoot things up and those who are terrified of “Beto” taking their guns. And everything in between.

How ’bout this cute li’l valentine the GG made for me? I think he made it on his computer this morning. I could hear the printer going. I thought he had drawn it himself but he says he found it on them thar intertubes. Um, I’m not sure about the udder 🤣 but he knows I like COLORS!❤️🧡💛💚💙💜

This entry was posted on Tuesday, February 14th, 2023 at 6:41 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.