The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Manuel Oliver, 51, and Patricia Oliver, 52
Like many other parents, Joaquin Oliver’s mother and father have become dedicated activists since their son’s death. One of them was elected to the local school board. While the families don’t all share the same political views, they stay in touch and occasionally meet, knowing they are bound by the pain of losing a child.
Manuel Oliver: We have a lot of sad moments that we keep for ourselves. People don’t know that I cry a lot. I sometimes find myself lost in life. And then I end up understanding that my son is not going to be back — as much as I cry, that’s not going to happen.
Everything that I see in the house relates to Joaquin. But I also miss my grown-up son, the one I will never have — the one that will go to college, get married, have kids. As a father, you have dreams. You see yourself as an old person, hanging out with your kids. That is not something that I can do anymore. What happened to Joaquin happens every single day. This is not about Joaquin only. This is not about Parkland only. This is not about Florida only.
Patricia Oliver: There is no rule to follow. There is no book to read. Sometimes you have the best attitude, and other days you have to just get through it, and at the end of the day, you’re just destroyed. To deal with my emptiness, I watch videos. I look at pictures. It helps me, seeing Joaquin alive — smiling, joking, talking.
I feel Joaquin every single second. It was kind of raining a little while ago and I said, “Don’t worry, it’s not going to rain. Because Joaquin is going to take care of it.” And he answered, because look, it’s sunny again.
Today I met a girl who was in his classroom that day. I hadn’t had a chance to talk to her before, and at least now I know that they didn’t close the door on him. Because that was one of my concerns: that one of the screams they heard in the moment was him saying, “Help! Help!” But she told me no. That brings me peace of mind.