ALWAYS IN OUR HEARTS
South Florida comes together to remember 17 killed in Parkland shooting
PARKLAND – Heavy hearts came together on Valentine’s Day to remember the 17 souls erased one year ago in one of the worst school shootings ever.
It was a day of tears and sorrow, but also friendship, love and hope.
It was a day to stand #MSDStrong not only in Parkland, but throughout South Florida where tens of thousands gathered in schools, parks and workplaces to take part in special activities to commemorate the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School massacre.
The day of remembrance was capped by an evening of communal healing, inspiration and hope at Pine Trails Park about a mile from the school. An estimated 5,000 people turned out, including Gov. Ron DeSantis.
“I’ve been kind of dreading [today],” said Jacob Mays, a 15-year-old sophomore at Stoneman Douglas whose buddy since sixth grade, Luke Hoyer, was killed in the shooting.
To mark the day they’d rather forget, Mays and five friends “built their day around Luke,” devoting it to the things their friend took delight in, namely basketball and chicken nuggets.
They took the day off from school, sported T-shirts that said “We march for Luke,” played basketball on the courts at the Parkland Golf and Country Club and went to Chick-fil-a for lunch.
They brought the day to its close with a visit to their 15-year-old pal’s grave in Pompano Beach, planting tulips in the memorial garden at the school and attendance at the
evening vigil.
All in all, Mays said, “it hasn’t been as bad as I thought it would be. I’m sad but also happy to see all of this and everyone coming together.”
The students and staff killed in their classrooms and hallways were Alyssa Alhadeff, 14; Martin Duque Anguiano, 14; Scott Beigel, 35; Nicholas Dworet, 17; Aaron Feis, 37; Jaime Guttenberg, 14; Christopher Hixon, 49; Luke Hoyer, 15; Cara Loughran, 14; Gina Montalto, 14; Joaquin Oliver, 17; Alaina Petty, 14; Meadow Pollack, 18; Helena Ramsay, 17; Alexander Schachter, 14; Carmen Schentrup, 16; Peter Wang, 15.
They streamed to the park decked in burgundy, holding hands, clutching bouquets of sunflowers and white roses and wearing orange ribbons and T-shirts emblazoned with positivity. “Together. Forward.” “Our Home. Our Family. Our Community.”
“Together we can make a difference.”
“Love in Action.” “Positive. Passionate. Proud.”
A video played showcasing a brokenhearted community engaged in good deeds inspired by those lost.
“It’s overwhelming,” said one woman as tears ran down her face.
Candles flickered as darkness descended over the crowd.
Members of the clergy on stage preached about faith and love, loss and grief. Each had their own message, all meant to lift spirits, to inspire hope, to heal.
“A life can never end,” said Rabbi Bradd Boxman. “It lives on in the hearts of those who love them forever.”
Monique Kormos, whose son graduated from the Parkland school in 2012, was living in Washington, D.C. with her husband when the shooting happened. That day, they decided to move back, she said.
“This is where my heart is,” she said as she burst into tears.
She and her husband huddled with friends under a tree for the interfaith ceremony. When it ended, she said she wouldn’t have missed it for the world.
“It’s another testimony of everyone coming together, beyond color and race and creed. My wish is that we didn’t need a tragedy to bring us together.”
Alyssa Greco, 14, an eighth-grader at West Glades Middle School, said she’ll attend Stoneman Douglas next year.
“I’m just remembering the lost lives,” she said. “I guess I just have to know that it will be better and safer when I get there.”
Jay Jurgens and his wife Maria brought their 6- and 7-year-old children to the park Thursday night. They attend Heron Heights Elementary and will one day go to Stoneman Douglas.
“It’s raw,” Jay Jurgens said of Thursday’s exposed emotions, his eyes welling with tears.
“I wasn’t prepared to have so much emotion all over again,” his wife, Maria, said. “We don’t know any of the victims personally, but we just felt drawn to be here.”
The Jurgens said they both felt pride in their community.
“The friends, the families and the community have come together to take a stand for each individual victim,” Maria Jurgens said.
Through charitable organizations, scholarship funds and dedications “they’re making sure that their loved ones live on in some way,” she said.
Allison Fowner, 16, and a junior at Monarch High School in neighboring Coral Springs has had many friends over the years who attended Stoneman Douglas.
The hurt, she said, “it’s always there. Today, it’s just a little bit heavier than usual.”
“And of course it makes us all sad that this keeps happening all over,” she said.
About one in eight students — about 400 out of 3,300 — showed up at the Parkland school Thursday, said broadcast journalism teacher Eric Garner.
“It’s such a day of incredible mixed emotions,” he said. “There’s so much loss and so much strength that’s happened since then. So many people, their lifetime mission has come out of this moment.”
When classes resumed two weeks after the shooting last year, a heavy weight encompassed the school, Garner said.
“The weight has gotten less,” he said. “But it’s still there. We need the trial [of the shooter] to happen. We need the [freshman] building to be gone. We need policies put in place that are going to keep us safe. There’s still a long way to go. But at least we’re better than we were right after the shooting.”
Superintendent Robert Runcie spoke to a gaggle of reporters outside the Parkland school, repeating a practice that became common in the first days after the shooting. He looked tired and his voice was weaker than usual.
He said he believes the community can heal by putting differences aside. “Although we mourn the lives that we lost through a horrific act of hate and anger, I also believe we must celebrate the possibilities of what can be through love and support,” he said.
He made no mention of the push for stricter gun laws, a talking point that put him at odds with some conservative families at Stoneman Douglas. He had voiced a robocall the day before asking parents to not allow students to participate in walkouts for gun violence.
The governor ordered flags flown at half-staff from sunrise to sunset at all local and state buildings, installations and grounds throughout the state.
“On this solemn day, our state mourns the lives of the seventeen souls lost at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School one year ago,” DeSantis said Thursday. “Since that tragic day, the Parkland community has demonstrated tremendous courage and resiliency, reminding us just how strong and united Floridians can be in the face of such devastating loss.”
After the school day ended early, hundreds of students flocked to the park where therapy dogs and counselors awaited.
Some clung to one another, tears streaming down their cheeks, as they stood in silence in front of 17 heart-themed panels dedicated to each of the victims.
The Parkland Hearts Art Project was born when thousands of paper hearts came in from around the world, inscribed with messages of encouragement and love.
“You are amazing, you are brave, you are strong,” said one on the panel representing Alaina Petty. Another for Meadow Pollack read, “Always in our hearts.” And one for Alex Schachter said: “Our hearts are heavy but our pride is strong.”
Instead of cards, flowers and other such expressions of sympathy, the city urged the public to bring canned food items to support the Parkland school’s Day of Service and Love activities.
Jeff Seward, a Lighthouse Point resident, said he could feel the pain of the parents and kids as he walked through the memorial.
“It’s heartbreaking,” he said. “People are still grieving. It takes time to heal deep wounds. I’m here just to show support and love for the lost students and staff — and the parents.”
In Coconut Creek, which borders Parkland, more than 120 people gathered Thursday morning on the grounds of City Hall for a tree planting ceremony in honor of the 17 victims.
The “Tree of Life,” a 20-year-old lignum vitae donated by a nursery in Homestead, is just one small way to honor the 17 whose lives were lost, Vice Mayor Sandra Welch told the crowd.
That fateful day is a reminder to everyone that all life is fragile, Welch said.
“Don’t put off to tomorrow what you can say or do today,” she said. “And to our children, give them all the hugs you can every single day.”
Coconut Creek Commissioner Becky Tooley urged everyone to love one another “every darn day” and to remember those who are still in pain from the events of that day.
“They need our love and they need our hope,” she said. “Because without hope, we can’t have healing.”
Coconut Creek resident Norm Shulman, his tiny dog Monte in tow, watched the ceremony.
“Most of my friends have kids who went to Stoneman Douglas,” he said. “It was a shot in the heart for everybody. I wanted to pay my respects and pray that it doesn’t ever happen again.”
Broward school officials designated Feb. 14 as a Day of Service and Love at Stoneman Douglas and schools throughout the district. Security was heightened in all district schools, and activities were restricted to internal parts of campuses.
From 1 to 3 p.m., more than 200 students and staff from Stoneman Douglas gathered at Pine Trails Park to assemble meal kits for Minnesota-based Feed My Starving Children to help feed malnourished children in more than 70 countries around the world.
Stoneman Douglas grad Brendan Epstein, 19, showed up to help along with his kid brother Jordan, a freshman at the school.
Epstein, of Parkland, lost four friends last Valentine’s Day: Joaquin Oliver, Alex Schachter, Carmen Schentrup and Nick Dworet.
“I feel like last year it was a day of tragedy,” he said. “And today we’re all here to help out for a good cause. We’re not going to let what happened last year pull us down.”
Epstein and his brother watched the evening ceremony at the park surrounded by friends.
“It was a really good way to unite the community and bring everyone back together for a night of remembrance,” he said.
While others in the crowd were moved to tears, Epstein said he wasn’t as overcome with emotion.
“I was partly desensitized to it because of what went on last year,” he said. “Last year it was just overwhelming. All the emotions hit at once.”
A team from the Coconut Creek-based charity Food For The Poor helped pack meals at the event hosted by its longtime partner Feed My Starving Children.
Volunteers hope to pack more than 700,000 meals on Thursday and Friday.
Food For the Poor employee Denise Michael, whose daughter graduated from Stoneman Douglas last year, was helping pack meals on what for many will be a difficult and painful day.
“We need something like this to unite us instead of divide us,” she said. “It’s a peaceful way to help poor children in other countries.”
U.S. Rep. Ted Deutch, the Democrat whose district includes Parkland, said the tragedy has prompted the community to find ways to “turn their pain into artistic expression and activism. The courageous families have started foundations and non-profits, worked through local and state government and school administration, all in their work to make sure such tragedy never befalls another family or community.”
Monique Kormos