I could not wait for Friday, April 20! Right after work was the start of a long-awaited weekend getaway with my very special guy. For months we had planned this weekend for just the two us, and visions of bed and breakfasts, wineries and beautiful mountain scenery motivated us through that thing they call work for weeks beforehand.
All romantic plans changed on Monday, April 16. Instead, we spent the weekend at his suburban home with his son Mike, a sophomore at VA Tech.
Unless you’ve been living under a rock these past few weeks, you know why Mike went home that weekend – and why moms and dads and loved ones everywhere cancelled their plans and cleared their calendars for the students who were lucky enough to just make it home.
“I just want to hug my kid,” my special guy kept saying. And he did. I envisioned dads and moms all over the country trapping their kids in suffocating bear hugs, and invincible college kids realizing for the first time that insanity and hatred are not discriminatory.
After Dad released him, Mike went about his business, calling and text-messaging his high school friends to stay out til all hours and come home to sleep til noon. But Dad wasn’t about to let him off that easy! He offered to grill steaks for him and his friends Saturday evening. The kids, about eight of them, thought it was really neat that Mike’s dad would do that for them. Decades later they’ll realized that this was one dad’s conniving way to spend a few more hours with his youngest child, to tell him how much he loved him without having to say a word, and to take his mind off the nightmare that he had just survived.
We grilled and told jokes and laughed – a typical American activity that was unthinkable to 32 – make that 33 – other families that weekend. No one talked about shootings or going back to school on Sunday afternoon. Instead, we spent three hours with happy, funny, well-adjusted kids, with all their silliness and stories and youth and energy. It was way more inspiring than any weekend in those dumb ol’ mountains.
And so, a small tribute: To the 32 VA Tech students and teachers, each of whom had contributions for this world that they’ll never share and we’ll never enjoy.
And to the families, friends and the rest of us left behind, who have realized again that every day is a gift and a chance to share, forgive and love unconditionally.
Hug your kids. Or somebody.
Get out and give back.
