The Parkland Memorial
I planned my annual vacation to Coral Springs, Florida a few months ago. I had no idea that the accused murderer of seventeen people would be arrested there. I also didn’t know that I was staying ten minutes from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School where the tragedy had occurred. I decided to visit the memorial display.
My anxiety started to build as I passed a scenic horse farm, high end gated communities and rows of palm trees. I am not usually a nervous person but my mind yelled, “You have been here before.” I have been in this area of Florida many times before but not lately. I have been to places were enormous horrors took place. Years ago, while in school in Holland, I went to Dachau the German concentration camp. In 2007 I was a member of a volunteer mental health team that worked 911 when ground zero was still a crime scene.
I went to the site with my friend’s son, a former student, now twenty one years old. As we took a left on Coral Springs Drive; I saw it. The school was surrounded by a fence that was now decorated and consecrated to the memory of lives lost. When I worked 911 I had seen the same type of display but it was much larger. There were similar objects like teddy bears, crosses, cards and flowers but each memorial has its own tragic, unique personality.
I stopped briefly when something caught my attention. On the ground before me I saw a large heart constructed with seventeen stones. Each one had a poignant message written on it. There were a few group pictures of the deceased that were all signed with touching comments added like, “I’m sorry this happened and “Rest easy.” When I started to cry, I thought to myself, “This trauma is so powerful and incomprehensible that it causes strangers to grieve.”
Along the fence were also provocative political statements. “Never again” was mentioned alongside remarks about guns. These comments were mingled with a variety of religious sayings from various denominations. “Protect us O Lord” and “Love One Another” caught my attention the most. Some people took pictures and made videos with their phones. Initially, I thought this was perverse and disrespectful. When I took a few I thought that it was okay. I would show my boys; maybe an absurd teachable moment.
A few days after my visit, I contacted, Tina Recchi, an organizer of one of the many meaningful demonstrations, to get her valuable input. She is formerly from Troy, New York, but spent the past 30 plus years in the field of education. “For the past month, I and two of my children have been speaking/demonstrating at rallies and helping to organize rallies for the younger generation who were affected by the Valentine’s Day Massacre which happened in our own back yard, Parkland FL. Two of my children attended that school. Many of the students who have been speaking out are eloquent, passionate, poised, informed and hopeful. They need our help. This is not about right or left or red vs. blue. This issue is about common sense and we need to take the politics out of it. As a former school principal, my number one job was to keep students safe. They cannot learn if they do not feel safe. They do not. We have failed our children. We need to listen. In order to fix the problem, it is imperative that we all come together on this issue.”
I went back alone to the high school a few days later for who knows what reason. The discomfort the first time seemed like a good deterrent for another trip. This time I noticed how close the fence was to the school building where the incomprehensible had occurred. A few minutes later I walked slowly again and stopped by seventeen crosses that had the victims pictures on them; fourteen teens and three adults. They were all smiling and looked vibrant. Now they were gone from the earth for reasons that will always remain complex and unclear.