Here's to the Hokies...Let Us Never Forget

Today marks the one year remembrance of the tragic massacre that shocked the great Virginia Tech Hokies, the US, and the world. A year ago at this time, the massacre was just beginning...a fact that sends shivers down my spine as I look at the clock. As I watch that same time tick away, I also realize just how quickly that year has passed...and also how some things have not moved forward, either. So many great minds, so many great people, so many great souls, so many great dreams were lost that spring morn. And as horrible and as emotional as that day was to the psyche of the world in which we all still live, what actually has been done about gun purchases to those unqualified to own, safety precautions on campus, etc? A hot topic there for a bit that has went disturbingly quiet throughout this land, ever since the photos and the bios and the family stories fell off the front page. All these wonderful voices forever silenced, yet we still cannot manage a conversation in their absence...

Virginia Tech University®

Today, again...and for all days since and for all days forward...we are Virginia Tech. Let us stand alongside our friends from Blacksburg (and throughout this nation, throughout this world) once again, and let them know the lives of their loved ones were not lost in vain. And let's work together to prevent another horrible nightmare like this from ever happening again.

Many hugs and condolences to the whole Virginia Tech family...and especially to the family members and friends of those that were lost that fateful day...from me. Words cannot express the grief I still feel for what has been so horribly taken from you and from the world at large. God be with you all...always.

---

Special hugs go to VT alum and dearest friend, the Wise Ricky. If there is anything I can do to make the day a bit better for you, please let me know.

And, yes, while I am behind on the Jamie Bishop memorial project I want to place here in Carrboro (Herr Bishop and his widow lived, studied and worked here for a bit), it will be completed by next year's remembrance. I want to do the memorial 'right' with some locals and former co-workers who actually knew him well, but that takes some time, organization, and money, and all three requires some planning and saving. For those that are interested in learning more, please email me: themarquise@gmail.com.

Respecting the Silence...UPDATED

Like so many of you, I am still stunned about Monday's horrible events in Virginia. With each passing day, the news and 'history' of this tragedy gets more and more troubling. For what it's worth...after we've all had time to properly respect the victims...I hope that this nightmare can open up some long-overdue dialogue in this country about gun control and mental illness, among others. I'm not so sure what we learned, at large, from Columbine 8 years ago, but Blacksburg hopefully will signal a turning point...a point where we try and prevent...once and for all...this from happening ever again. For the time being, though, I wish all the rhetoric would quiet down some so that we don't lose sight of all the wonderful people we've lost.

There is a nicely done article from MSNBC that profiles the victims and some of their many contributions. It's a sobering testimony to the fleeting joy that is life to be sure, but the victims so deservedly need to be remembered...from this moment on and forever into the future.

The same article above also mentions slain German professor Jamie Bishop's web page (which obviously is a bit out of date, as it still lists him living in Carrboro and still working at UNC at Chapel Hill). It's a wonderful site to get a glimpse of what this man was all about, and it displays his superb skills in web design and photography. I did not know him, but his strong sense of humour, love of art, and curiousity about digital media is front and center throughout the site. If you're interested in looking at it, it's called Memory39. (If you click on 'Profile' and then 'Journal' from the main page, then read his journal entry from June 2006...there are numerous condolences under the 'Comments' section. This is such a wonderful site, despite everything, and I wholeheartedly second another viewer who hopes that the site remains up as a dedication to Herr Bishop.)

And may Jamie Bishop, like the others, with their readily apparent appreciations for life, never be forgotten.

---

UPDATED April 20: Virginia Tech has a web page up for people wanting to make donations. Their main fund is called The Hokie Spirit Memorial Fund, but they also have some memorial scholarship and endowment funds that have been/soon will be established in the name of victims, including Jamie Bishop. Go here to make a donation. For those wanting to donate in Herr Bishop's name specifically, go to the page above and then click on the link under 'funds in honor or memory of the victims'; that page will take you to another where you can make donations online and *directly to* the Christopher James (Jamie) Bishop Memorial Scholarship Fund (use the drop down menu off the donation page). I understand donations sent in without any designation to a particular fund will go to the larger Hokie Spirit Memorial Fund. Additionally, you can choose to make more than a one-time donation, if you wish (and that's also an option on the online donation page), so it can be a recurring gift.

Prayers for the Fallen...UPDATED

® Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech)
God shall wipe all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.
Revelations 21:4
A time line of events and the status of the Virginia Tech campus and community can be found (and are being regularly updated) here and here. Locally, a 8pm vigil remembering the fallen will be held tonight on the campus of North Carolina State University, Raleigh. In Chapel Hill, the University of North Carolina will be holding a vigil at the same time in The Pit by the Student Union. Additionally, there is an online vigil from The Virginian-Pilot (which allows for comments and condolences) here.

God Bless all of those who were taken from us so senselessly yesterday, and God comfort those who survived and are suffering.

---

UPDATE: It is with great sadness that I report that a former employee of UNC at Chapel Hill was one of the 33 victims from yesterday's tragedy. Christopher James Bishop (aka Jamie Bishop) was gunned down yesterday in Norris Hall as he was teaching an Introductory German class there. Some of Bishop's students have been hailed as heroes for blocking the door and preventing gunman Cho Seung-Hui from re-entering the classroom after his first horrific invasion...very few survived unharmed. Bishop's widow, Stefanie Hofer, also moved with him from UNC-CH to Virginia Tech in 2005. She is also an instructor in German at Virginia Tech. The News & Observer has a profile of Mr. Bishop here.

This just continues to be a horrible, tragic, and incomprehensible loss.