Victims’ funerals take their toll on kids
PARKLAND, Fla. — Each funeral for the victims of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High massacre is different, yet the same: the mourning relatives, teens walking in clutches wearing black, politicians paying their respects, media cameras pointing at the entrance from across the parking lot.
And each service takes its toll on the young mourners, many of them attending more friends’ funerals in a span of days than many middle-aged people have in their lifetimes. Services for 14 Stoneman Douglas students, the athletic director, a coach and a geography teacher began Friday, two days after the shooting, and will end in the next few days.
Erica Sparrow, a 17-yearold senior, said yesterday that she went to her first funeral a couple of weeks ago, “now I have one every day.” She and her friend, Lauren Kuperman, also 17, began ticking off names — Meadow Pollack from Friday, Joaquin Oliver from Saturday and Alaina Petty’s yesterday. Three more tomorrow, another Wednesday. It’s both difficult and cathartic, the girls said.
“It kind of helps but at the same time it makes me sad,” Sparrow said.
Stoneman Douglas senior Lewis Mizen said he had never attended a funeral for someone his own age before the weekend. He will attend another today. When an older family member dies, he said, it seems natural that their children and grandchildren speak about their loss, but seeing parents eulogize their child cuts deep emotionally.
“Seeing a father freak out, I hope I never have to see something like that again,” Mizen said. “Right now, it all seems very surreal.”