Forward Together Forward

One year ago today we learned of the tragedy at Northern Illinois University. The news came in different forms. The impact on five families was devastating. It was one of those events that I will always remember where I was when I heard. Like President Kennedy's assassination, like 9/11 and like the shootings at NIU.

It was shortly after 3 pm on 2/14/2008, I was in the hallway at my Mom's apartment when my cell phone rang. It was my son Ryan. "Dad, there's been a shooting, I'm in my room, we're on lockdown." Words I thought I'd never hear and at the same time, words I was thankful to hear. Many phone calls that day would start out the same but end with different results. The families and friends of many NIU students and faculty heard the news from others sources and then endured the unknown while waiting to hear if their loved ones were safe.

The first question I asked him was, did you call Mom? Yes, he had left a message. Then I started thinking. Is the gunman still loose? I thought of Virginia Tech. My thoughts turned to the friends with students at NIU. Are they ok? I called my wife Ruth. Did you get Ryan's message? Do you know what's going on? Have you heard from anyone? She was in a meeting in her Springfield office when Ryan called. She saw the call and let it go to voice mail. Sometime later a staffer came in and said we need to talk to you, can it wait, no, we need to talk to you now. They told her what had happened. She checked the voice mail with the reassuring message. "I'm ok".

Throughout the rest of the day I listened to the radio, watched TV, made calls, answered calls, prayed. My brother called from Germany sometime before 4 pm. "Is Ryan, alright? I'm watching this terrible scene at NIU on CNN." Ruth called with pieces of information. 14 transported to hospitals, multiple fatalities, shotgun involved, status of kids we know at NIU, gunman is dead.

I watched as the scenes from Columbine and Virginia Tech unfolded. Horrific, terrible images but somehow they were removed both in physical distance and emotional connection. But this was different. My son was there. He was in Cole Hall at 11 am that day. I sat in Cole Hall as a student. My dorm was across from the site of the tragedy. Ruth is an alum. Ryanne Mace of Carpentersville was one of the victims.

A year has past. I attended the memorial for Ryanne Mace. I went to the Campus Memorial Service at NIU. Thursday, I attended the remembrance at ECC. Life goes on but we can never forget what happened that day.

Links
NIU Remembers: A Legacy of Character 2/14/2009 - Watch archived video of the ceremony >

NIU memorial site

WBEZ program The NIU Community Reflects on Last Year's Shooting aired on 2/13/2009 on Eight Forty-Eight